Persona 3: The Truth of Death
by DrNinja493
Summary: An AU novelization of Persona 3. The contract states that he must take responsibility for his actions. Well, he didn't need a contract to tell him that. He makes a choice, one that will change the course of history, and must suffer the consequences. See how one choice, one difference, changes everything. (Rewrite in Progress - CH. 9 complete)
1. April 7th - 18th

_"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." - Norman Cousins_

* * *

_April 7th, 2009_

* * *

_**You, who wishes to safeguard the future, however limited it may be… Go forth without falter, and with your heart as your guide… Learn how to live… Teach what death truly means to those that seek it…**_

He jerked awake as the man on the intercom stated, "We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay, and your next stop is Iwatodai City." He held his head as he tried to focus on the dream.

_That voice...What did it mean? _

He shook his head to clear his blue bangs out of his eyes. No sense worrying about it now_._ He glanced out the window and looked out on his hometown.

Ten years. It had been ten years since he had last been here. An accident on the Moonlight Bridge had left him without parents, and without memory of the incident that had made him an orphan. Now, he was back in Iwatodai, to finish his education here at the request of his grandfather.

_This is a chance to grieve… to learn._ _And maybe… even to find the answers that you seek… _

He had said that to the teen during the brief phone call they had shared a few days previous. The old man's words still rubbed him the wrong way. It was almost like there was something he wasn't being told. He scowled and he felt his fists clench. The man had an irritating habit of telling only what he felt needed to be told.

He shook his head angrily, pushing those thoughts and feelings out of his head. It didn't matter. He would find the answers, with or without his grandfather's help. Then…he would finally find peace. He had to. It was the only way.

Turning his head back to the window, he gazed at the ocean, letting his mind go blank as he stared into the abyss.

The train pulled into the station a few minutes later, shuddering as it came to a stop. The intercom blared to life again. "We have arrived at: Iwatodai station. Please have a good day."

He quickly gathered his things, stepped off the train, and made his way through the mostly deserted train station. As he prepared to exit the station, however, the teen glanced at the clock hanging over the door.

It was almost midnight.

The teen sighed. He wouldn't make it to the dorm before the secret hour struck, after all. At the very least, it meant he didn't have to worry about being scolded for showing up so late_. _

_Freaking trains._

The teen quickly rummaged through his bag for the directions to his new dorm, powered off his MP3 player, and waited.

_3…2…1…_

Almost on the instant the clock hit 12, the lights all around him snapped off and the air gained a sickly green hue. Per usual, all the people that had been moving around him were now encased in huge coffins. The puddles of leftover rainwater on the ground outside had turned to the color of blood.

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, then shook his head in exasperation and carefully started trudging towards his new dorm.

_Still creepy. Ugh, figures that this would happen on my first day back…_

* * *

With the power out, the teen couldn't tell how much time had passed since he had arrived, but it felt like it had been around an hour. He wasn't that great with directions to begin with, but with no streetlights to light up the paper with the directions on it, it just compounded the problem.

"Well, this can't possibly get any worse." He said to himself as he squinted at the page for what felt like the thousandth time.

After a few wrong turns and subsequent backtracking, the teen finally located the dorm that he would be staying at; a non-descript four story building, indistinguishable from the other buildings around it. He double-checked the address, and sighed in relief. He'd finally found the dorm.

When he entered, however, that feeling of relief quickly turned to confusion.

There were still lights on in the lobby.

His eyes widened in surprise. "What the-"

"You're late."

The teen jumped at the sound of the unknown voice emanating from the reception desk to his left. A dark-blue haired kid in what looked like old prison pajamas was sitting behind the counter. He had a warm smile on his face that didn't quite reach his cold, grey, dead-looking eyes.

The kid's sudden appearance sent a chill down the teen's spine. Up until now, he had never met another who could experience the secret hour.

_How the hell can he-_

"I've been waiting for a long while," The kid said, interrupting his thoughts. He gestured at the desk in front of him, where a piece of paper lay. "Please sign here."

He edged over to the desk and looked down, examining the paper. It was a contract of some sort, with strange stipulations and terminology.

_Time delivers us to the same end...? _

The teen was simultaneously on edge and curious.

"What is this?"

"It's boring stuff, just says that you will take responsibility for your actions, that's all," The kid answered with a dismissive tone.

"Why do you want me to sign it?"

"It's…something you need to do." The kid replied hesitantly, as if even he didn't know.

That was worrying. The teen looked up at the kid again. "I need to? Do I have to sign it?"

"No," The kid said after a moment's contemplation, "But…you might regret it if you don't."

The teen sighed in frustration. His grandfather had taught him to treat everything and everyone with a sense of caution, and this was setting off giant flashing warning bells in his head. A strange contract being offered to him in the middle of a time no one else should experience? Who in their right mind would sign something like that? The kid's reluctance to give him a straight answer wasn't helping either. Still, he was curious what the kid wanted with him, and didn't want to offend him by refusing outright.

"…Can I sign it later? I'm kind of tired, and-"

"No. You need to do it now, or never." The kid said impatiently, his face twisting into a pout. "Just sign it, ok?"

A twinge of anger tore through him at this, burning away his curiosity, and all thoughts of hesitation and doubt disappeared with it. The kid's attitude and cryptic answers had made his decision easy.

In a combative tone, he replied, "No, I refuse."

The kid frowned deeply for a moment, making him think he had made the wrong choice. Before he could say anything, however, the kid's warm smile sprang back onto his face. "Very well," he said lightly, "You _can_ make that choice, as that is what the contract states…" He lowered his eyes. "…I can only hope that you don't come to regret it later."

The kid then grabbed the folder off the counter and made it disappear with a flourish of his hand, drawing another surprised look. He smiled brightly at the teen as the darkness seemed to fold in on them.

"So it begins…"

* * *

He blinked, and instantly the kid disappeared. The lights seemed to have gone out again as well. He sighed. "What the hell was that all about…?"

"Who's there?!"

A voice startled him out of his revelry immediately. He whirled around and saw a brunette girl standing a little ways off from him. The best word he could think of to describe her was 'cute'. She had an attractive, rounded face with short, shoulder length brown hair, whose beauty was marred only by the fearful expression on her face. She was dressed in a pink wool sweater and a school skirt with a red armband. Surprisingly, she also had a white gun holster strapped to her hip, complete with a silver gun inside.

She also, clearly, and perhaps most importantly, was _not in a coffin._

_Another one?!_

He had been back in this town for less than an hour, and already, he had seen more activity during the secret hour now than in the past ten years combined! It was astonishing to him, and more than a little exciting. Bottling his surprise and excitement, he forced his thoughts back to the present, quickly analyzing his situation.

His prognosis was grim. The girl in front of him was clearly nervous, and if prior experience had taught him anything, nervous people with firearms were generally pretty dangerous. He had no means of defending himself, and cover was few and far between in the spacious lobby. If she decided to start shooting, there wouldn't be much he could do about it.

The teen started to raise his hands in the air in a non-threatening gesture, when the girl jumped at the movement and moved to draw her gun anyway. He felt his body tense, an instinctive response to her threatening movement. His gaze seemed to swim as his perception slowed to a crawl, and his eyes swiveled around the lobby, checking his options.

The distance between him and the girl made attacking her practically suicidal. She would finish her draw and be able to kill him before his third step.

That left defense, or more specifically, taking cover as his only option. The furniture to his right was closest, but definitely unsafe. Depending on the caliber of the gun she was using, she could potentially shoot right through it. The reception counter was much farther away, comparatively, and he wasn't sure if he could make it behind the counter before she started shooting. However, it was a much more solid piece of cover, and would provide much more protection from incoming fire.

Out of all available options, that was his best shot.

The teen felt his legs tense as he prepared to-

"Takeba! Wait!"

The sudden exclamation caused both teens to jump, and the teen's entire body tensed up involuntarily, preparing for the loud reports of gunshots. Surprisingly, however, the girl followed the voice's order, her hand freezing on the butt of her gun. She quickly turned towards where the voice had come from, a set of stairs lying along the backside of the building.

He instinctively followed her gaze to the staircase, where another girl was walking down. Her face was softer and more refined than the other girl's. Her angular features were further accented by her dark crimson red hair. Her outfit was equally as enticing, as she wore a white blouse, a red bowtie, the same red armband and skirt as the brunette girl, and a gun, also holstered on her hip.

Fortunately, at that exact moment, the power came back on as the secret hour ended. When the newly powered lights highlighted the teen and his raised hands, the two girls in front of him relaxed slightly. He sighed at that, relaxing himself, and re-analyzed the situation.

They were obviously not expecting him to walk in like that during the secret hour, so he could understand the caution. What he didn't get was why they were so jumpy... Or why two high school girls were openly carrying firearms…

_Eh, wouldn't be the first time though… Maybe they're new to this phenomenon… I'll ask later, when their guard is down. Alright, time to play it cool._

The teen put his hands down and shoved them back into his pockets, smiling disarmingly at the two women.

"Sorry if I startled anyone," he said, laying on his thickest charm. "Didn't think anyone would be up this late."

The red headed teen visibly relaxed at his statement and replied, "That's quite alright. I assume the trains ran late?"

The teen nodded in acknowledgement, causing the redhead to sigh and shake her head. "I'm not surprised. The night trains in Iwatodai always run late… Anyway, my name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students that lives here."

Kirijo. He recognized the name from his grandfather's files. A _zaibatsu _with direct ties to many different Yakuza groups, the Kirijo Group practically owned Iwatodai, controlling everything from consumer products to construction and zoning.

That made the girl in front of him a very powerful woman. He would have to be careful around her. He swallowed nervously, but his smile never wavered.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Minato Arisato."

If she noticed his nervousness, she didn't show it. Her features didn't move an inch as she gestured to the brunette to her side. "This is Yukari Takeba, another student and resident."

Yukari glanced between them nervously, then waved halfheartedly to Minato. "Hi there…" She turned to Mitsuru, a concerned look on her face. "…Is it alright for him to be here?"

Mitsuru sighed, shrugging. "We'll see. It was a last-minute decision to put him here after all."

The way the conversation turned made Minato tense. With what he had seen tonight; the kid, his contract and the armed ladies in front of him, there was obviously a _lot_ more going on than just secret times of night. The two of them obviously could experience the secret hour, same as him, and were extremely paranoid about _something. _So paranoid, in fact, that they were openly carrying guns around, despite the potential legal trouble.

Was the secret hour more dangerous than he thought? What part did the Kirijo Group have to play in this, if any? More worryingly, how much of this did his grandfather know before sending him here? How much was he hiding from Minato?

"Anyway, you are probably exhausted. You should get some rest before school tomorrow." Mitsuru's voice broke through Minato's pondering, causing him to snap to attention. He could worry about his grandfather's secrets later, after getting some rest.

At his nod of approval, Mitsuru turned to Yukari. "Takeba, would you mind showing him where his room is? Second floor, end of the hall."

"Ok, no problem, Senpai. Follow me, Minato-kun." The smile Yukari regarded him with was a lot more natural now, and Minato felt himself returning the gesture almost instinctively, despite his suspicion.

_Sure, I'm just gonna pretend you didn't almost just blow my head off with that hand cannon of yours…_

She motioned for him to follow, and he fell into step behind her. They walked up the first flight of stairs and down the hall to the last door on the right.

"This is you. Pretty easy to remember, huh? Oh yeah, a bit of friendly advice…Don't lose your key. You won't hear the end of it."

Minato smirked and said, "That sounds like it comes from experience."

Yukari grimaced slightly. "Yeah, you could say that. Any questions?"

He mulled it over. He had a _lot_ of questions about the abnormal things that he had seen tonight, from the gun still holstered on her hip, to the fact that they could move around during the secret hour, but thought better of it. If the Kirijo Group was involved, he had best watch his step. If they suspected he was snooping around… He shook that unpleasant thought out of his head, and settled for asking a less innocuous question.

"Does that kid live here too?"

Yukari looked at him in bewilderment. "Huh? What kid?" She didn't look like she knew what he was talking about.

_Hmm, looks like things are just getting stranger and stranger. If he doesn't live here, then…where did he come from? _

Yukari's confused look started to turn into worry, causing Minato to rub his eyes sleepily, playing up his exhaustion. "Sorry, guess I'm more tired than I thought. Thought I saw a kid running around out there. My mistake."

It was easier to play the question off as exhaustion than to explain what he had seen during the secret hour. He really didn't want to give her more reason to be suspicious of him.

"Yeah, I understand. You've probably had a rough day…" She then tilted her head and asked, "Hey, on your way here, did you see anything…strange?"

He shook his head, a neutral look on his face. His tone was clipped when he replied with, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

_Yeah, that secret hour is pretty ordinary to me by now. If they want to obfuscate, I can do the same._

She glanced at him curiously for a moment then sighed, her expression turning neutral. "Alright… Anyway, we should probably get some rest before class tomorrow. So…Good night."

Minato nodded at Yukari. "Good night, Yukari-san."

She started to walk past, but stopped and turned to him. "I know you probably have more questions, but save them for the morning, alright?"

Yukari walked down the hall, up the stairs, and out of sight. Minato watched her go, then opened his door, and looked around his room. It was functional, if not particularly comfy. He set his bag down on the desk, and collapsed on the bed. One last thought ran through his head before he slipped into unconsciousness.

_Well, I'm here. Let's see what answers this place has for me in the morning, eh?_

* * *

_Fire. Mom and Dad, face down in a pool of blood. Gunfire. A screech, inhuman and terrifying. Darkness._

* * *

Minato woke abruptly, feeling his grasp on the images slip as they faded from his mind.

It was the dream again. The same one he had consistently over the past 10 years.

Because of the strange nature of his amnesia, he only had fragmented memories of the 7 years before the accident. He would see flashes; a shadow of a face here, a strange unknown feeling there, all coming whenever something or someone triggered it. His psychologist had stated that not only would certain sights and sounds trigger these, they might even come out in dreams every once in a while, and it was true: He had dreamed a few memories here and there. However, the only one that he seemed to have regularly was one of terror and fear.

Despite the lingering terror in his gut, he quickly scrambled out of bed and grabbed his dream journal out of his bag. His grandfather had recommended that he start recording all the details that he remembered from his dreams, saying that the less his mind needed to construct in his dreams, the easier it would be to grasp more information from them. The memories could then be separated from the dream, separating fiction from reality.

He wasn't sure he agreed, necessarily, but the act of writing helped calm him down, at the very least. He sat down at the desk after retrieving the journal, grabbed a pen out of the cup, flipped to the next empty page, and started writing.

After transcribing his dream-memories into the journal, he looked outside. The sun was already up, and people were moving about on the street below, if only just. He glanced at the clock. It read, "6:45." School started in little over an hour.

He mulled over his options. After that dream, sleep would not be easy to find again, and it wasn't worth it to try anyway. He sighed as he stripped his bedclothes off. "Might as well get ready."

He quickly washed up, and put on his brand-new school uniform. He dug out his practice saber from his things, and started going through some techniques, as if he were fencing an invisible opponent. He was midway through his sixth bout when he heard a knock on his door.

"It's Yukari. Can I come in?"

"Sure, it's open." Minato replied.

Yukari opened the door, and her eyes widened as she noticed the sabre in his hand. "Do you fence?"

Minato nodded as he put the sabre back into his closet. "I learned from my grandfather. He said that fencing is one of the few art forms that can be practical as well. Good way to relieve stress, too."

It seemed like Yukari wanted to ask more, but she thought better of it. She gestured over her shoulder at the door. "Sorry to rush you, but Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so… Are you ready to go?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. He had the directions in his bag. He could probably make his own way to school, eventually…but it looked like they wanted to keep a close eye on him.

_Fair enough. I'll play along… for now._

Minato walked over to the desk, grabbed his schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder. "Yup, ready."

"Cool, let's go!"

* * *

"There it is!" Yukari said, elbowing him as the train rounded the bend in the tracks.

Minato turned and looked out on the expansive school complex. Gekkoukan was a fully enclosed school campus, with 3 separate, massive buildings for elementary, middle and high school students, respectively. It also had a massive physical education facility, with two whole soccer fields and a full track course, as well as a swimming facility and several gyms.

At least, that was what it said on the brochure, which did little to give an accurate impression of just how _big_ the school was. Tatsumi Port Island was a man-made island, built right in the middle of the Port of Iwatodai, and the school complex had to take up at least half of the island. His eyes widened as he looked out on the complex, impressed.

After a few moments, Yukari tapped his shoulder and asked, "So, are you planning on joining the fencing team? I don't know if they are recruiting or not, but…"

Her question broke Minato out of his stupor. He shrugged as he slid back into his seat. "I honestly don't know. I've never competed before. If I can get in though…" He thought about it a moment. Joining the Fencing team _would_ provide ample opportunity for counter-surveillance. He shrugged again. "Eh, I guess I'll think about it."

"Well, good luck if you decide to try out. Mitsuru-senpai is the team captain, and let me tell you, she is a hard one to impress."

"…Really?" Minato said, a small smirk appearing. He never was one to back down from a challenge. "Well then, I have to try now."

Yukari laughed and grabbed her things as the train began to lurch into the station. "Well, good luck with that."

* * *

They walked together in companionable silence towards the main school building after leaving the train station. Luckily for Minato, the train station deposited them practically on the campus, so he didn't have to worry so much about getting lost in the future. Despite his cold observation earlier in the morning, he was actually glad that Mitsuru had Yukari escort him to school. He didn't want to end up wandering around Iwatodai all day, after all, despite his objective.

As the two of them walked, however, Minato could feel people's stares boring into him from all directions. Yukari was a known figure, it seemed. For them to be walking together like this…

He sighed. If Gekkoukan was like any other high school, then rumors were bound to start about it. There was nothing he could do about that, unfortunately. As the new guy, rumors would start about him anyway. He'd heard a variety of them over the years between the various schools he had attended.

It was frustrating to be sure, but in the end, it didn't matter what anyone thought of him. He was here for one purpose. Once that was fulfilled… He was gone.

His thoughts turned back to his escort, causing him to look at her with detached curiosity. Yukari had an easy, friendly nature, which, combined with her looks, made it easy to see why she was so popular. As they walked, she returned pleasantries with those who passed, and smiled and waved back to passing students. He smirked momentarily at the sight. She seemed like a normal high school girl, after all…

He shook his head slightly as he dismissed that last observation. He had made the mistake of assuming that before.

_You know better than anyone how far others can go to deceive you..._

When the two of them reached the gate, Yukari turned to him and said, "Welcome to Gekkoukan High! Hope you like it!"

Minato smiled at her greeting. "Thanks, Yukari. I hope you guys treat me well."

_Things here can't possibly turn out as bad as last time, right?_

* * *

"You're okay from here, right?" Yukari asked as they walked into the main hall. "You should probably head to the faculty office and find out what your homeroom is. It's down that hall to the left." She pointed at a corridor. "Well, that concludes the tour. Any questions before I go?"

Minato mulled it over. She was connected to the strange happenings here, and she knew more about what was going on here than he did. It would be advantageous to be able to reconnect with her. Perhaps he could use his charm to elicit some information from her.

He smiled disarmingly at her. "Yeah, what class are you in? In case I need to know anything else about the school."

"I dunno… I haven't looked at the classroom assignments yet." She said, shaking her head.

Minato nodded. Of course she hadn't, they'd just gotten here. "Ah, no worries then." It was no big loss. The two of them would be living together, after all, so he'd have plenty of opportunity later. He turned to go, when Yukari put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey… About last night…Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?"

She smiled at him, and started walking down the hall towards the stairs. She waved back at him. "See you later!"

He stared at where she had disappeared up the stairs. This was the first time that she had acknowledged what had happened the night before. Minato sighed. Who could he tell that would believe him, anyway? It seemed like everyone else knew more than he did at that moment, anyways.

_Ugh…I hate being the one on the back foot here…_

He quickly walked down the corridor to the faculty office and entered. A woman in a pink pantsuit noticed him enter and walked up to him. "Are you the new student?" Minato nodded. She looked down at the paper on the desk, labeled 'Student Information'.

"Hmm… Minato Arisato, 16… going on 17…No previous schooling record… 12th Grade?" She gave him a surprised look. "Ahead of the curve?"

He shrugged noncommittally, and said, "I was homeschooled for most of my life. This is where I got placed when I applied." To be fair, although it was technically a lie, it was also closest to the truth.

Since beginning his work with his grandfather, he'd never stayed in one school for too long, preferring to receive instruction from his grandfather's tutors in the months between assignments. If he'd actually cared enough about studying to try, he could probably have passed his entrance exams by now. Either way, lie or not, it was much simpler using that as an excuse than trying to explain the actual laundry list of schools he'd been enrolled in before, not to mention his patchwork education.

"I see." She smiled and went back to reading his sheet. "Hmm, let's see. In 1999, your parents…" She gasped as she presumably read what had sent him away 10 years ago. Her eyes became regretful as she attempted to apologize. "I-I'm sorry, I've been so busy that I-"

Minato waved his hand dismissively, and said, "Don't worry about it. It's a well healed wound by this point."

_Hah, if only that were the truth…_

She nodded, giving him a small, sad smile. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

Minato smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Toriumi." He gave a small bow for emphasis.

"So polite!" She said, her smile brightening. She turned back to the sheet in her hand. "Well, let's see… Ah, you have Mr. Ono as your homeroom teacher. That is going to be room 3-D. Now, normally, you would meet up with him right now, but the Welcoming Ceremony is about to start. I'll show you to the auditorium and where you will meet with your class."

Minato nodded and followed her out of the office.

_Another semester, another school, another welcoming ceremony. Let's hope this one doesn't suck like 99% of the others._

* * *

Not many things were as boring as a person who didn't know how to give a speech. Combine that inability with someone who was extremely longwinded, and you had the perfect recipe for torture. Midway through, Minato began wondering if anyone would notice if he started banging his head against the chair in front of him. At least then, something productive and somewhat entertaining would be happening.

After the _extremely_ long speech was finally over, Minato was shuffling to his classroom with the rest of his new class, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned and saw Mitsuru Kirijo standing behind him. He felt a chill go down his spine, and he repressed the urge to shiver. How had he missed her? It wasn't like she wasn't easy to pick out of a crowd.

He smiled at her, despite his discomfort, and said, "Hello, Kirijo-san. How are you today?"

She fell into step beside him. "I am fine. Did you get to school okay? I sent Takeba…"

He nodded. "Yeah, she showed me the way here. Thanks for that, by the way."

_Because even though I had the directions, I'm not sure I would have made it on time otherwise…_

"You're welcome. So, are you a senior as well?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I placed into 12th when I applied to come here."

"You didn't transfer from another school?" She asked quizzically.

"Nope, I was homeschooled." He said, shaking his head.

"You must have had an excellent teacher, then, to be placed a year ahead." She said matter of factly.

"My grandfather is a very smart man." He said, grinning slightly. That was an understatement. "I know that he only hopes he managed to beat something into my thick skull through all those years."

She smiled at his self-deprecation, and the sight sent a shiver down Minato's spine that had nothing to do with discomfort.

_She has a nice smile... _

He shook that thought from his head. Personal entanglements, especially with women, were not okay.

_Besides, you know better. She is definitely involved in something here, and you know what happens when you get involved personally in a case. _

At that point, they reached their classroom and filed in. Mitsuru went to take her seat while Minato went up to introduce himself to both the class and the teacher.

"Hello, Mr. Ono? I'm the new student."

The man turned around, appraising Minato momentarily before nodding and saying, "Ms. Toriumi gave me the important details. Give me a moment." He turned to the front. "Class? We have a new student joining us today. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Minato turned and smiled at everyone. "Hello there, I'm Minato Arisato. Pleased to meet you all."

"Try and make him feel welcome, alright?" Mr. Ono surveyed the room for a moment, then pointed at the empty seat next to Mitsuru and said, "You can sit there. Is that alright with you, Miss Kirijo?" She nodded, and he silently took his seat as the lecture began.

* * *

After class was over, Mitsuru turned to him and said, "You should head home. You'll want to get to know the area, so you don't get lost in the future."

It was a good idea, especially given his challenge for direction. "Are you headed back too?" He asked, shoving his books into his bag. If he could get her talking, maybe he might glean something from her…

She shook her head and said, "No, I have business that I need to attend to here." As she turned to leave, however, he recalled something that Yukari had said to him on the train.

"Mitsuru-san, you are captain of the fencing team, right?"

She paused for a moment, then turned back to him, a suspicious look in her eye. "Yes, I am. What about it?"

He grinned, challengingly. "Got room for another on the team?"

Her eyes widened momentarily, before a small smile broke out on her face. "You fence?" She asked, surprised.

He nodded, which caused her smile to brighten slightly. She tilted her head, and ran her eyes up and down his frame, appraising him. After a few seconds, she nodded and said, "Well, I'll have to see for myself. I think I could squeeze you into the roster…If you are any good."

"Well, I've never competed before, but…" He smirked. "…I think that I can probably convince you."

"We'll see, Arisato." She said as she turned and left the room.

Minato's smirk widened. She had a prideful and competitive nature it seemed. He could use that to his advantage.

However, as Minato was getting up to leave a moment later, a group of angry-looking boys surrounded him, cornering him on his desk. The one standing directly in front of him was a classmate of his, and he had an angry expression on his face.

"So, here for barely a day, and you're already trying to move in on Mitsuru-san **and **Yukari-san." He scoffed. "You got balls thinking you can come in here and try to steal them away from the rest of us. Seniority rules, new guy." The guy then flicked Minato's chest angrily.

Minato was flabbergasted. These guys honestly thought that he was trying to get with them? On his first day, no less?

He laughed deprecatingly. "Look, you know what they say about assuming things, right? You know, 'to assume makes an ass out of you…" He paused, tilting his head in mock confusion. After a moment, he clucked his tongue. "Damn, I feel like I'm forgetting part of it…" He smiled mockingly. "Ah, but then, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

The guy's face twisted into a snarl as he grabbed Minato's shirt and raised his fist threateningly. Before the guy could say anything snide, however, a shout rang out through the classroom.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing?!"

The one holding Minato looked over his shoulder toward the source of the voice, then quickly let go of Minato's shirt.

"C'mon, let's go." He said to his cronies. They walked out of the classroom as a group, glaring at Minato the entire time. Minato shook his head, a slight smirk on his face.

_Making friends, wherever I go…_

He quickly straightened out his clothes, smoothing the wrinkles out of his uniform, then turned and looked at the guy who had saved him.

Minato's savior was a silver-haired teen with a bandage over his eye, wearing a red blazer over his school shirt, and had his school jacket slung over his shoulder. He was handsome in a plain sort of way, and was well built, with broad shoulders and defined arms. The teen came over to Minato, concern written on his face.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Minato nodded, surprised by the stranger's concern. "Yeah. Thanks for the save…uh…"

The silver haired teen held out his hand. "Akihiko Sanada. I live in the same dorm as you."

_Another one, huh…?_

"Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you, Akihiko-san." He said, taking Akihiko's hand.

Akihiko shook his head. "Just Akihiko is fine. What did you do to piss those guys off?"

"I really don't know," Minato said, shrugging. Granted, that wasn't exactly true, but the truth wouldn't exactly make for a great conversation starter.

_Better to just play ignorant._

Whether Akihiko believed him or not didn't show on his face. The silver haired boy simply nodded and said, "Alright, well, Mitsuru sent me to see if you needed help getting home."

Minato raised an eyebrow in surprise, then nodded. "Sure, I'd love some help… and some backup in case those jerks decide they wanna jump me somewhere else."

_It's not because I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag with both hands and a map. Not at all… _

"That ok with you?"

Akihiko just smiled, as if the threat of getting jumped excited him. "Heh, no problem."

* * *

Minato stared at the screen on his laptop as the sun faded from sight out the window.

He and Akihiko had made it back to the dorm with no further incident. He had gotten to know a little about the silver-haired teen on their way home. He was captain of the boxing team for one, and seemed to be obsessed with working out, having spent a good portion of the conversation explaining the benefits of protein for muscle growth.

He also had offered to help train Minato, and Minato had accepted. Partially to keep an eye on Akihiko, who was obviously connected to Mitsuru, and partially because he didn't want to be caught off guard by anything, be it something in the secret hour, or crazy classmates. Akihiko had grinned maniacally at that. He said he might start tomorrow, and to be prepared.

The look in Akihiko's eyes as he said that worried Minato slightly.

After they got back to the dorm, they separated and went into their respective rooms. Minato had wanted to get a better lay of the land, and so he started to look through the recent local news on his computer.

Apparently, people around Iwatodai were suffering from a strange new disease that they were calling 'Apathy Syndrome'. It apparently stripped the person of all mental faculty and emotion, and they started wandering around the city aimlessly, abandoning their jobs, families…Everything. It sounded pretty serious already and that it was getting worse.

_I've never heard of a disease that does this. Hmm, I wonder if this is connected to that hour… _

Minato yawned, then looked at the clock. It was almost 11.

_Well,_ _I better get some rest. No telling what might happen tomorrow._

* * *

_April 8th, 2009_

* * *

Luckily for Minato, the next day went off without a hitch. He had answered a few questions during the lecture that had surprised a couple of his classmates, and drawn an impressed look from Mitsuru. The toughs from yesterday didn't reappear to harass him, and he had managed to find a new takoyaki place that he liked on the way home. Afterward, he had managed to find his way back to the dorm without getting lost.

All in all, a pretty good day.

As he walked into the dorm that evening though, he saw an unfamiliar man speaking with Yukari in the lounge. He had long brown hair, a beige suit, and round spectacles. He was rather dopey looking, all things considered. As the door closed behind him, the man and Yukari stood up.

"So, this is our new guest…" The man said as he came over to shake Minato's hand. "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school."

Surprise surged through him. Why was the chairman of the board here, of all places?

Minato shook his hand quickly, covering his surprise with a smile. "Hello, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Minato Arisato."

Ikutsuki nodded with a slight smile on his face, pleased with Minato's politeness. "Please, have a seat."

Minato sat next to Yukari on the big sofa, and Ikutsuki started. "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment in the public dorms. Now…" The pensive look on Minato's face drew a questioning look from Ikutsuki. "Is there something you would like to ask me about, Minato-kun?"

Minato grimaced slightly as he said, "Forgive me if this sounds impertinent, but…Why are you here?"

Ikutsuki chuckled. "Why, to welcome you, of course!" He paused at the skeptical look Minato gave him. "Well, to be honest, I do have other business here; speaking of which… Where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

Yukari spoke up for the first time that night. "She's upstairs."

Ikutsuki shook his head in a knowing way, as though this were a regular occurrence. "As diligent as always… Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello…" He turned his attention back to Minato. "Is there anything else?"

Minato was tempted to ask him about the secret hour, but banished that thought quickly. Ikutsuki was obviously connected to Mitsuru, based on his words, and that meant he couldn't be trusted. If they were using Ikutsuki to keep him at the dorm, it was probably to observe him. If so, he couldn't let them know that he was on to them. They were his only lead on the secret hour, after all.

"No, I'm good. Thank you."

Ikutsuki beamed as he said, "Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He got up to leave.

As he walked past, he put his hand on Minato's shoulder. "You are probably tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, 'the early bird catches the bookworm!'" Minato blanched at the lame joke.

_God, I hate puns normally. Bad puns though? Pouring acid in my ears would be more enjoyable._

Oblivious, Ikutsuki chuckled to himself as he walked away.

Yukari groaned apologetically as she said, "You'll get used to his lame jokes."

"If it's all the same to you," Minato replied, grimacing, "I'd rather not. My sense of humor is rather delicate, and I'd like to keep it intact."

Yukari nodded understandingly, then smirked as she turned to him. "So, I heard that you made quite the splash on your first day. You've only been here a day or so and everyone is talking about how you are trying to get with Mitsuru-senpai."

Minato scowled behind his hand. She was attempting one of two things: Fishing for information about potential weaknesses, or, much more likely, searching for fresh gossip. Either way, it was a blatant attempt to ferret information from him.

Luckily, he was rather adept at misdirection.

His scowl turned to a lewd grin as he turned to look at her. "Well, you know, a lot of those rumors are saying that I'm trying to get with you too."

Yukari froze, a dawning look of horror appearing on her face. "What?!"

He repressed the urge to laugh and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, apparently everyone thinks that you 'escorting' me to class yesterday was a surefire sign that we are dating."

She blushed and her voice became higher pitched. "B-but that's not true!"

He put on a hurt look. "It isn't? Whoops…"

Yukari's look of horror intensified and Minato found that he couldn't hold it in anymore, breaking out into snickering laughter. She blinked in surprise for a moment then glared at him, realizing what he had done. "That wasn't funny!"

He just chuckled and stood up to start heading upstairs. As he walked past Yukari, he said, "Well, then, guess not every rumor you hear is true then, huh?"

* * *

Ikutsuki walked into the control room on the 4th floor of the dorm. There was a set of chairs and sofas set up in the middle of the room, and a bank of consoles along the wall. On the computer screen was a surveillance feed of Arisato's room. Yukari and Mitsuru both sat watching the feed.

Ikutsuki chuckled at the students' diligence. "Working hard?" Mitsuru and Yukari both turned to him, giving him their attention. "So, how's he doing?"

Mitsuru stood as she answered, "He went to bed a little while ago. He's asleep now."

Ikutsuki sat down on one of the stools behind the console, staring at the sleeping boy.

Mitsuru had a concerned look. "Mr. Chairman, do you think that he's..?"

He nodded, and said, "I think so, but it's best to wait and see. The Dark Hour is about to start."

Almost as if on cue, the world took on a familiar sickly green hue. The lights in the room all went out, but the console stayed on. The subject on the screen similarly did not change. They observed for a few more minutes, until Ikutsuki breathed out and smiled.

"See? He's not in a coffin, and they haven't attempted to prey on him yet." Mitsuru and Yukari's breath both hitched at his words. "I think he has the potential."

_He could be what we've been looking for... _

He shook his head in self-reproach. There was no sense counting a chicken before he hatched, after all. He repressed the urge to giggle at his own pun and said, "Either way, we should continue to monitor him for a couple more days. If he is going to show any sign of his potential, then it should be evident before too much longer."

Mitsuru nodded, but Yukari shook her head slightly. She had a downcast look on her face.

Ikutsuki frowned and asked, "Is there something wrong, Yukari?"

"I dunno…" She said with a shrug. "…I feel kinda bad, spying on him like this…"

Ikutsuki got up and put a reassuring hand on Yukari's shoulder. "Think about it this way;" He said lightly, "We are watching him for his protection. If he has the potential, he needs us to learn how to control it. If he doesn't, he needs us to protect him, right?"

She nodded in acknowledgement, but his words didn't really do anything to alleviate the guilt that settled in her stomach.

* * *

_April 9th, 2009_

* * *

_They were nipping at his heels, their screeching growing closer and closer by the second. He saw a blue door in front of him, his only means of escape. _

_20 feet… 10 feet… 1 foot…_

_He lunged toward the door, twisted the handle and pulled with all his might. _

_But the door refused to open._

_They were getting closer, their inhuman screeching perforating every inch of his body. _

_There was __**no escape**__._

_"Guess he was right, after all...We all get delivered to the same end..." He said as he slumped to his knees, a sad smile forming on his face. At least he would die-_

_No._

_The thought took him by surprise._

_This is it? This is your resistance? Do you WANT to die?_

_Of course not! He didn't want to die at all! But what choice did he have?_

_You have the choice that all men do when faced with death; to fight, to flee, or to die. Since you cannot flee, you MUST fight!_

…_But how? How could he fight back against this?!_

_You ask yourself the wrong question. Instead, ask yourself this; can you let yourself die without ever having known the truth?_

…_No._

_He couldn't._

_He needed to know._

_He stood up and turned around. _

_To know, he needed to live. _

_The darkness grew closer. 20 feet… 10 feet…_

_To live, he needed to fight._

_They were right on top of him now._

_He set himself, raised his hand, and screamed a word of defiance against the unending blackness._

"_PERSONA!__"_

* * *

Minato shot out of bed like a lightning bolt, a scream dying in his throat.

_What...I...What the hell?_

The dream had felt so real, the terror unimaginable. He stared at the wall, panting and shivering. He willed himself to forget, pushing the sense of terror and despair out of his mind. After a few minutes, his breathing returned to normal, and his shivers had ceased.

He looked up at the clock. 4:23. He groaned and flopped back onto his pillow. 3 hours. 3 hours before he had to get up.

He wasn't getting back to sleep after that nightmare, so he turned on his light and picked up his training sabre. Maybe some practice would banish the demons from his head.

* * *

Minato ended up having a rough day. He was (understandably) exhausted when he had finally left for school, so much so that he had barely been able to pay attention in class. Then, to make matters worse, Akihiko had shown up after school was out, wanting to start his training. Not having the heart to say no after he had promised, the two of them had ended up jogging for an agonizing 3 hours until, finally, Minato admitted he couldn't handle anymore.

Fortunately, Akihiko had taken mercy on him and treated him to dinner at a place called Hagakure Ramen. The two of them had gotten to know each other a little better over a bowl of ramen, talking about their studies and classmates. They had gone back to the dorm after eating, and Minato, utterly drained, had been barely able to trudge his way up the stairs to his room before collapsing in his bed.

This exhaustion was evident on the surveillance camera watching him, as Mitsuru, Yukari, and Ikutsuki continued their observations. Mitsuru chuckled at his disheveled appearance. "It looks as though he's had a rough day. Akihiko's training is like that."

"Speaking of Akihiko, where is he?" Ikutsuki asked with a small chuckle.

"He said he was going to go out again." Mitsuru said, her smile quickly turning into a frown.

Ikutsuki shook his head exasperatedly. "One of these days, he's going to get in over his head…"

Mitsuru nodded in agreement as Ikutsuki returned his attention to the boy on the screen. "How interesting…" He pondered out loud. "Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first…" He stood up to look closer at the boy snoring away on the screen. "…But this subject is unique. He hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms."

Yukari scowled. "You're treating him like a guinea pig. He's a person, just like us."

Ikutsuki turned and smiled at Yukari. "I apologize for my terminology, Yukari; I am merely speaking as a scientist. I understand your concern, but it is absolutely vital that we recruit new members." His smile grew a little wider. "I've heard he's the same age as you. Wouldn't you be more comfortable with someone the same age there, backing you up?"

"Yeah, I guess…" She conceded, "But I think-"

She was interrupted by a loud beep from the console. Someone was attempting to contact them. Mitsuru reached over and tapped a button, opening the line. "Command Room. Is that you, Akihiko?"

Akihiko's panicked voice came through the speaker. "You aren't gonna believe this! This thing is huge!" He paused, as if he were looking over his shoulder. "Crap, I don't have time to talk! It's chasing me! I wanted to let you guys know, cause I'm almost there!"

Yukari flinched as the com line snapped closed. "Does that mean he's bringing that thing here?!"

Mitsuru's eyes hardened as she stood up. She turned to Ikutsuki. "Mr. Chairman, stay here," She said, her tone hard. "We'll attempt to fight them off."

"R-right," He replied nervously. "Good luck."

The two girls went to the bookcase and accessed the secret armory behind it. Yukari quickly grabbed one of the special silver guns hanging there, as well as a backsword, forgoing her usual bow and arrow. Mitsuru grabbed a thin-bladed rapier and one of the guns as well.

They quickly ran down the stairs as they heard the front door open.

* * *

Akihiko slumped to the floor as he slammed the door closed. Fighting with that huge Shadow had completely drained him, and the injuries he had sustained didn't help. Mitsuru and Yukari rushed towards him.

"Akihiko!"

"Senpai!"

He looked up at the two of them, grinning in excitement. "Get ready! They'll be here any second!"

Mitsuru glared at him. "This is not a game, Akihiko!"

Before she could scold him further, a loud bang occurred as the building shook under a large, unknown impact. Mitsuru drew her handgun from its holster before turning to Yukari. "Takeba, go upstairs and wake Arisato up. Head for the back door."

Yukari looked at her with surprise and fear. "But… what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here." Mitsuru glanced back down to Akihiko, who was checking his injuries. "You lead it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

He glared up at her. "Like I had a choice!" He looked to Yukari, who was frozen, watching the exchange. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

She flinched slightly at his tone, but turned and ran up the stairs.

* * *

Minato had been sleeping semi-peacefully when a loud crash and the sensation of the building shaking woke him with a start. He wiped the bleariness from his eyes and sat up.

_What the hell? Earthquake? Wait, no. It's the secret hour. Whatever it was, it sounded big. Maybe I had better go investigate._

He had barely gotten off of his bed when he heard frantic knocking on his door, Yukari's panicked voice following after.

"Wake up! Please wake up!"

"I am up!" He replied. "What's-"

"Sorry, but I'm coming in!" She replied. She unlocked his door with a key, and ran in, a frightened expression on her face. She had a sword in her hand and her gun holstered on her side. He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I don't have time to explain! Come with me!"

_Well, that answers one question. What is she so scared of, though…? _

"Here, take this, just in case!"

She handed him the sword she was carrying. "You can do more with it than me anyway! C'mon, let's go!" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him out into the hall.

He followed her down the stairs to the back door. A loud crash on the other side of the door made them stop, just as a loud beeping came from Yukari's pocket. She pulled a black box with a speaker and a red blinking light out of her pocket, just as Mitsuru's voice came through. "Takeba, can you read me?"

She pressed a button on the side of the box, and replied, "Y-yeah, I read you, Senpai!"

"There is more than just one!" Mitsuru warned. "The one that we're fighting isn't the one that Akihiko saw!"

As if to punctuate that statement, another loud crash sounded from the back door. The wood began to visibly warp as the thing on the other side continued to bash the door down. Yukari turned and grabbed Minato, pulling him towards the stairs. "C'mon, we'll head to the roof!"

As they passed the 3rd floor, they heard a terrific crash below them as the back door buckled and fell open. Yukari looked back at Minato in fear. He shook his head and pointed up the stairs. "Keep going!" Whatever was chasing them was obviously pretty strong if it could break down a door. They didn't want to be here when it caught up.

They frantically rushed up the remaining stairs and burst through the door to the roof. Yukari slammed the door shut behind them and quickly locked it. She sighed in relief then looked at Minato. "I think we're okay for now…"

Almost as if in response to her optimism, a loud crash shook the building again.

And again.

And again.

Minato shook his head in confusion as he stared at the door. Whatever was chasing them couldn't have made it up four flights of stairs that fast, and besides, it wouldn't shake the building if it was trying to bust down a door…

_But that means…!_

"It's not coming through the door!" Minato shouted as the building shook again.

"Then where is it…" Yukari said, before her eyes widened in realization. "It's crawling up the side!"

He and Yukari spun around just in time to see a multitude of hands grab the ledge of the building.

The thing that pulled itself up was…indescribable.

A blue mask peeked over the edge. It had no eyes, but he could feel it looking for them. When its unsettling gaze fell upon the two teens, it made an inhuman screeching noise and pulled itself completely onto the roof. It had many hands, connected in an amorphous blob of darkness. Many of the hands pulled out sharp silver daggers the size of machetes, and, with another screech, the horror advanced menacingly towards them.

Yukari quickly yanked the handgun out of the holster on her hip, and Minato got into a fencing stance, ready to support her.

He was surprised to see that, instead of getting ready to shoot the monster, she put the gun up to her own head.

_What is she doing?! Is she that scared of this thing? That isn't the answer!_

He made a move to stop her, but she cried out as she yanked the gun away from her head, unable to pull the trigger. The monster rose up at the sight of hesitation, and charged.

A strangled cry rose from Minato's throat as the monster slapped Yukari aside contemptuously. She fell to the ground a few feet away and did not move or get up. It regarded him for a second, causing Minato to tense, before it turned to advance on Yukari's unmoving form, as if to finish her off.

A wave of panic crashed into him. She was a sitting duck. He had to do something!

_But what can I do? If I fight this thing, I could die! I'll never know the truth, and everything I've been through will have been for nothing!_

A flash of silver on the ground drew his eye.

It was Yukari's gun.

He hesitated. He looked at Yukari. He could see her breathing, but it was labored. She was unconscious.

Defenseless.

_If I don't fight this thing though... We'll __**both**__ die for sure. _

A memory of the terror he had felt during his dream the previous night flashed across his mind.

In the dream, at the final moment, he'd had a choice; to resist and fight against the odds, or give up and accept his death. He could feel that choice was upon him once again.

He decided what he was going to do.

"Hey! Ugly!"

The monster turned to the sound of defiance from the blue haired teen.

He had her gun in his hand, pointed straight at the monster. It froze at the sight of the weapon, as if it knew what it was.

He smirked, and said confidently, "You forgot about me, didn't you?"

The monster shrieked in response and turned to face him. He adopted a shooting stance, sighted in, and pulled the trigger, bracing himself for the recoil.

Click. Nothing happened.

He pulled the trigger again, harder this time.

Click. Same result.

He grimaced as he shook the gun in frustration. "What the hell? Why won't this thing shoot!?"

He shoved the gun into his waist band and readied himself with his sword. "This isn't exactly how I planned this…" A sense of dread filled him as the monster started its advance. "Nope, definitely not how I planned this."

* * *

Mitsuru was worried. The Shadows that had attacked the front had been weak, nothing like what Akihiko had described. That meant it was still out there, somewhere. More worryingly, she could not raise Yukari on the communicator, and had not found her, Minato, or the Shadow on the cameras yet. She and Akihiko frantically searched through the surveillance feeds until…

"There!" Akihiko pointed at the roof cameras. It showed a huge Shadow, seemingly flailing around, as though it were attempting to swat a bothersome fly.

"What is it doing?" Ikutsuki asked. His question was soon answered as Minato rolled into view, wielding a sword, doing his best to dodge, parry, and evade the Shadow's attacks.

Mitsuru and Akihiko gaped at the sight on the screen. He was going toe to toe with a Shadow, without a Persona! He could be killed! They needed to get up there immediately.

"Wait!" Ikutsuki exclaimed. They turned back to the screen to watch as Minato pulled an Evoker from his waistband. Mitsuru's breath hitched. Did he know how to use the Evoker?

He looked at it momentarily, and then tossed it off screen. Mitsuru's stomach fell as her hopes were dashed. "Come on!"

She and Akihiko quickly dashed out of the Command room and up the flight of stairs towards the roof. She hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

As bad ideas went, this one was pretty high on the list. Not only was it as if he were fighting 10 on 1, but each blow he blocked felt like he was smashing his arm into a wall. Add in his exhaustion from earlier and he was having to work pretty hard just to stay alive and out of the creature's way. He was pretty sure that if the thing hit him even once, he'd be out of the fight.

He dodged one thrust and parried another, then threw in a thrust of his own, scoring a glancing hit on one of the creatures arms. The attack just seemed to make it angrier, however. The creature howled, then attacked with all its arms, simultaneously. He quickly dodged out of the way of the attack, watching as all of the monster's blades sank into the space he had just vacated, then turned and ran, attempting to stay outside of the creature's range.

_Why did the gun not work? Is there something I'm missing here?_

He shook his head in frustration. The only one who would know how to use the thing was Yukari.

_Speaking of Yukari… _

He turned to where she lay, and was happy to see that she was stirring.

_Thank god, she's not dead. Maybe I'm not alone in this fight after all._

He was quickly brought back to his senses when a sharp pain lanced through his side, causing him to stumble and fall. He looked down to see a long shallow cut along the side of his belly. The monster had missed gutting him, but only barely.

_Sloppy..._

He looked up to see the monster getting ready to split him in two with an overhead slice. He quickly rolled to the side as the attack whistled past him, stood up, and ran near to where Yukari was. He spun around and stood between it and her, intending to cover her as she engaged from range.

Yukari groaned as she regained consciousness. "Ugh…"

"Hey! You ok?!" Minato asked, panic and exhaustion evident in his voice.

She shook her head, and replied, "I'm fine. What…" She noticed the monster still moving towards them and screamed, scrambling to her feet. She took a few steps back, putting her back against the wall.

Minato pulled the gun from his waistband, looked at it, then turned and tossed it to her. "I can't make that thing work, so however you use it, now would be a good time to do so!"

* * *

She glanced at Minato. He was clearly exhausted, and wounded. He had fought something he had no hope of winning against in order to protect her. The thought sent shame coursing through her body. He had to be scared as hell, yet, he hadn't hesitated to fight.

What kind of person would she be if she could not return the favor?

At that thought, she put the gun against her head, and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.

"Persona!"

She screamed as a burst of power emitted from her. A woman on top of a bull's head suddenly appeared in the space between the teens and the monster, glowing with power.

"Io, protect us!"

* * *

Minato was dumbstruck. She had shot herself, but instead of dying of a self-inflicted gunshot, something had come _out_ of her. A being that was immaterial, yet so real…

Something about the being's presence resonated with something inside him, like it was familiar somehow…

He was so entranced with the feeling that he barely noticed when the monster attacked the being. The monster appeared to have been driven into a frenzy by the appearance of the feminine being, lashing out with a berserker-like intensity.

When it was hit, Yukari screamed in pain, as if she had been the one hit instead. The pain appeared to be too much, and she slid to the ground, wincing.

The being disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. Having dealt with this distraction, the monster continued to advance on the two teens. The door to the roof started to shake as something tried to get through. It was looking grimmer for them with each passing moment. Despite the feeling of horror in his stomach, the feeling that the being had brought still resonated in his head. An idea started to form…

* * *

Yukari panted, fear, pain, and shame mixing into a cocktail of despair in her stomach. Even _with_ her Persona, she couldn't protect them. It hurt too much. She didn't want to die here. Not yet.

"I think I get the gist of how to use that thing now," Minato said, drawing her gaze. The look of determination in his eyes was…inspiring. "Can I see it?"

She almost wanted to say no, that if he tried to use it without having awakened his Persona, that it could kill him.

Instead she handed the handgun over to him without a word.

Minato didn't know if this would work. Hell, he didn't even know if he believed what he was seeing. All he knew was that they were dead if he didn't do something.

_It's strange when that something happens to be trying to kill yourself._

The grip of the gun felt heavy in his trembling hand as he raised it to his head. The trigger felt like it was made of lead with how slow it moved.

In the end, though, he pulled the trigger.

Blackness consumed his vision. He felt all strength leave his body as he heard the sound of glass shattering.

* * *

_April 17th, 2009_

* * *

Yukari looked at the blue haired teen sleeping in the hospital bed, and was beside herself with worry. When he had immediately collapsed after pulling the trigger on her Evoker, she had been terrified that she really had just killed him.

What had happened after, though, scared her even worse.

She sighed, and shook her head. She didn't need to be afraid of him. He had done what he had needed to do to save their lives, and she was grateful to him for that. She just hoped that he would wake up soon. He had been out for the past 8 days. The doctors had said that the wounds he had sustained during the battle were not life threatening, so the cause had to be exhaustion from forcing the summoning of his Persona, before it was ready.

If you could even call that thing his Persona.

She shuddered as she remembered what had happened that night.

* * *

_He pulled the trigger on her Evoker, and immediately screamed, clutching his head in pain, and collapsed unconscious. _

"_Minato-kun!" She shouted, panic coursing through her. She attempted to pull herself up to check on him, but noticed that the telltale blue glow of a Persona summon still emitted from his unconscious body._

_She stared as a large creature with a huge katana and wings made of chained together coffins formed in front of her. It turned and screamed at the gigantic Shadow that was bearing down on them. _

_As opposed to when she summoned her Persona, the Shadow stopped when the roar of rage came from the strange Persona. _

_It was almost as if it actually… feared the Persona. _

_This theory was confirmed when, in the blink of an eye, the Persona effortlessly split the Shadow in two with its blade. It didn't stop there, however, continuing to slash and stab the body of the Shadow with reckless abandon. _

_Yukari stared in fear as the Persona savagely tore apart the Shadow, almost playfully, as if it reveled in the death of its enemies. Was this Minato's Persona? If so… what did that say about him? _

_When the last of the Shadow had dissolved into black goo at the Persona's feet, the Persona howled in victory. It turned back to Yukari, and she glanced into its eyes. The sight would stick with her forever. _

_The Persona's eyes were like staring into a black hole. It was a void, devoid of light and life, threatening to consume everything in its path. _

_She began shaking uncontrollably, even after the Persona had vanished and Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai had burst onto the roof. They looked at the unconscious boy and at the remnants of the destroyed Shadow in confusion. Akihiko ran over to check on Minato as Mitsuru came over to Yukari._

_"Takeba, what happened?"_

_Yukari looked into Mitsuru's eyes. "I-I don't know."_

* * *

Yukari sighed bitterly, remembering Mitsuru-senpai's lecture to her after she had debriefed her older teammates. She had been sat down for about an hour, forced to hear rebukes and warnings about not giving her Evoker away to just anyone, that it was dangerous, and that Minato could easily have died if he wasn't so lucky. It's not like she'd wanted that to happen!

_I'd like to see what Little Miss Perfect would have done in that situation!_

She was quickly torn away from her thoughts as she heard Minato stir next to her.

* * *

_He was sitting in a chair in a black expanse. He could see nothing, feel nothing. _

_Then all of a sudden, there he was. _

_That kid from the first night, sitting right in front of him, with a smug, satisfied grin on his face. _

"_I hope you aren't regretting rejecting the contract now."_

_Minato snorted derisively. "Well, to be honest, I didn't see anything in that contract about help concerning demons trying to kill me."_

_The boy laughed. "No, I suppose not, but the contract __**was**__ meant to make things easier for you." _ _His grin turned to a frown. "Why did you have to make it so much harder for yourself?"_

_"The whole thing felt weird," Minato said with a frown. "You wouldn't give me a straight answer about it, and I wasn't going to sign something that cryptic anyway. If you had told me that it would help with that thing back there to begin with…" _ _He sighed. "Ah, well. Doesn't much matter now, does it?"_

_"Yes, you're right." The boy thought about this a moment, and then smiled. "Well, I can't help you in the same way as the contract would have allowed, but I can help in a different way. I can give you access to a way to defeat those creatures. Do you accept?" _

_Minato thought about it a moment, then nodded, and the boy closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them again, he smiled brightly at Minato. _

"_There. I can't give you access to this power now, but when you accept that part of you that you keep hidden, this power will show itself to you." _

_"Accept what I keep hidden?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. The boy just nodded, clearly not offering any more information. Taking the hint, he sighed and nodded. "Ok, thanks, I guess." _

_"You're most welcome," The boy said with a smile. His face turned pensive. "Does…this make us friends?" _

_Minato looked at the boy in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. He mulled over the question for a moment. The kid looked pretty harmless and seemed to know what was going on with all the freaky crap that had happened recently. _

_That was the rub though; he knew more than he was letting on. He sighed._ _He had a feeling things weren't about to get any easier. Any way that he could get more help from the kid would be probably be advantageous. He nodded genially, smiling at the kid. "Why the hell not? Not like I have that many friends anyways."_

_The kid smiled knowingly. "You have more than you might think." He stuck out his hand to shake. "My name is…Pharos." _

_Minato shook Pharos' hand and smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, Pharos." As his hand left the kid's grip, he felt his vision start to swim and waver. _

_Pharos beamed at him. "It's time for you to wake up. Good luck!"_

* * *

Minato groaned as he felt sunlight pierce through his eyelids. _Why do you have to do this to me, Sun? I thought we were friends… or at least had a mutual understanding…_ He opened his eyes to see Yukari standing over him.

She smiled as he gazed up at her. "You're awake!"

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he said, "Huh? Where am I…?"

"Tatsumi Memorial Hospital," Yukari replied. "Mitsuru-senpai's family owns it. It's only a little while away from the train station." She exhaled nervously. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I dunno," He groaned as he sat up, "Did you get the name of the truck that hit me?"

She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she quickly threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He was… surprised, to say the least.

"I was so worried! I thought that I had killed you by handing you my Evoker!" Yukari said in a muffled voice as she spoke into his shoulder.

Minato coughed in embarrassment at the close contact, glad that the two of them were alone in the room.

_Thank god Naoto isn't here, or she'd never let me here the end of it._

Yukari realized what she was doing and pulled away bashfully, a blush on her cheeks. "Sorry. I'm just _really_ glad I didn't kill you."

He laughed away his embarrassment. "I'm the one that pulled that trigger, Yukari-san."

"But I'm the one who gave the Evoker to you, even knowing what it might do to you." She said, shaking her head. "I was supposed to protect you, and I couldn't do anything…" A downcast look came over her face as guilt wormed its way through her.

A small amount of remorse shot through him for making her worry. "Hey, it's ok. I'm alive. You're alive." He smiled. "No autopsy, no foul, right?"

She laughed for a moment, the light returning to her face. "Right… Well, I imagine you have some questions for me, huh?"

He nodded. That was an understatement. "First things first; what the hell were those things?"

"We call them Shadows. Akihiko-senpai, Mitsuru-senpai, and I fight against them."

"What about the…" He stopped suddenly as a wave of dizziness swept over him and he slumped back into the bed. Yukari stood up in alarm.

"Are you ok?"

Minato nodded, the dizziness having passed. "Yeah, I'm okay… Just dizzy…"

She waved her hand in a placating gesture. "It's okay. I promise we can answer all your questions later. We'll save this for once you get out of here." She got up to leave, but seemed to remember something she wanted to say, and stopped. "I, uh…" She hesitated, "…I… wanted to tell you that… I'm sorta like you."

Minato cocked his head in puzzlement, the question he wanted to ask evident on his face. She sighed. "…My dad died in an accident when I was little, and my mom and I aren't on good terms. You're all alone too, right?" She said, glancing furtively at him.

His eyes widened as his mind went into overdrive. They knew about his past? How long had they been watching him?

She sighed as she noticed his surprise. "To be honest, I know all about your past. It didn't seem fair though, so I wanted you to know about mine… since you saved my life and all."

"I understand." He said, nodding. He really didn't, but he needed allies in this group of theirs if he was going to get to the bottom of this, and this seemed like a good place to start_._

"Thanks." She said, smiling slightly before turning sullen again. "That's not all though."

She looked at the floor, her voice tiny. "My dad was working in a lab for the Kirijo Group when he died." His eyes widened in surprise. She nodded, reading his response again. "Yeah, the same group that Mitsuru-senpai's family runs. I came here looking for answers to why he died."

Minato stared as he absorbed this new information. It appeared that he wasn't the only one looking for answers here, which he could potentially turn to his advantage. He still didn't trust any of them, but Yukari had an honest reason for being here, at least.

He could extend an olive branch, open up a little.

She smiled at him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "I've wanted to share that story with someone else for a long time. Thanks for listening."

He nodded. As she turned to leave again, he spoke up. "You know, I can help with that… if you want."

She turned back and stared at him in disbelief. "Really?"

"That's kinda the reason I'm here…" He mumbled. "I'm looking for answers too."

She smiled and nodded. "Ok, I'll be sure to take you up on that." She then glanced at the clock and said, "Well, I had better get going. I'll let everyone else know that you woke up. Be a good patient, ok?"

He groaned in dismay at the prospect of staying the night in the hospital as Yukari shut the door behind her.

_These places always have the worst food, and they won't let you leave. I wonder if I can sneak out…_

* * *

_April 18th, 2009_

* * *

He ended up being discharged that night, and was back in his own bed before midnight. He got up the next morning to find Mitsuru waiting for him in the lobby.

_Well, this is a surprise… _

He smiled at her as he walked over. "Good morning, Mitsuru-san. How are you?"

She nodded politely. "I am fine. How are you feeling after all that?"

Surprise shot through him at her concerned tone. He hadn't expected that, not from someone like her. He stretched his sore muscles to mask his surprise. "Eh, I'll be ok in a couple of days. Just a few cuts and bruises left."

Relief visibly swept through her expression. "Good. The doctors said that there was no permanent damage either. Still, it's good to hear you are feeling fine. The first time can be rough."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, about that-"

"Not now. We will talk about it after school though, alright?" She said, giving him a placating gesture.

He tilted his head curiously, then nodded in acknowledgement. "Ok, tonight."

It made sense. She obviously wanted to explain this on her terms, with the rest of her team there to back her up. The more people she had to help explain the strange phenomenon, the better. They knew more about the secret hour than him, and apparently there was more to it than just being creepy, if that monster was any indication. It deserved more than a rushed explanation.

"However, I could not help but notice your performance from that night." He glanced at her in surprise. She had a small smile on her face. "You seem to be a fantastic fencer, based on what I saw. Rough, but with excellent stamina and poise."

He gave a surprised chuckle. So that's what this was about. "Ah…You flatter me. I hope that, unorthodox as it might have been, you were impressed with my performance?"

"So much so, that I expect you at the next meeting on Wednesday. We meet Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, every week except finals." She tilted her head, giving him a challenging look.

He grinned confidently. "All right then. I'll be there."

She smiled back, satisfied. "Good. I've been wanting a new sparring partner. You'd better not disappoint." She then turned and walked out of the dorm, a slight spring in her step.

Minato watched as she left, feeling his eyes drawn to her involuntarily. She really was quite attractive, having a confident presence that naturally drew the eye. She was obviously competitive, which was no surprise, given where she came from. What was surprising was that, despite her family's reputation, she was apparently quite honest and caring. She seemed to care for his wellbeing, and was going to make an effort to explain what had happened.

Maybe she was different from the rest of her family?

The familiar thought caused a bolt of panic to rush through him. That was not good. The last time he thought that…

_It always comes back to __**her**__, doesn't it?_

He shook his head as he walked out the door, pushing the vile memories from his head. Even if Mitsuru _was_ different, she was a means to an end, nothing more. That's all she could ever be.

* * *

He would have thought that trying to explain where he had been for the past week would have been difficult, but it seemed that an excuse had already been provided for him, courtesy of Mitsuru. Apparently, he'd taken 'ill' due to the sudden change in climate brought about by his transfer and had to spend a short stay at the hospital. As such, his teachers had been remarkably understanding, even going so far as to excuse him from the work he'd missed.

The efficiency of the lie surprised him. Apparently they'd had a lot of practice making excuses for unexplainable absences.

After school, Minato returned to the dorm with Akihiko and Mitsuru. They brought him up to the fourth floor and into the command center. Yukari and Ikutsuki already sat inside. Akihiko motioned for Minato to sit as he and Mitsuru took their seats to the left and right of Ikutsuki.

"Well, now that everyone is here, we can begin," Ikutsuki said jovially. "I am glad that you are okay, Minato-kun. Not many could have survived what you went through."

"Thank you, Chairman."

He cleared his throat. "First off, let me ask you this: Would you believe me if I said that the day consisted of more than 24 hours? That there is an extra hour past the stroke of midnight?"

Minato tilted his head back and laughed. Someone else actually admitted it existed! 10 years of searching finally paid off!

Mitsuru smiled slightly, mistaking his mirth for disbelief. "Your reaction is understandable, to say the least."

_If only she knew…_

"Regardless," Ikutsuki continued, "The fact of the matter is that you have been experiencing a moment of time that few others have… A 'Dark Hour', so to speak."

"Remember those things you fought a week ago?" Akihiko asked with a smile. Minato nodded. "We call 'em Shadows. They attack anyone not inside a coffin during the Dark Hour, which is why they came after us a week ago."

"More like you brought them here…" Yukari muttered.

Minato smirked at Akihiko as a thought came to him. "Guess this is why you like to train so much, huh?" He asked, drawing a surprised look. "I thought it was kinda weird at first, but now it makes sense."

"Of course! These things are a real challenge!" Akihiko replied, smiling.

Mitsuru's face twisted in anger. "You got hurt just the other day!"

Ikutsuki quickly stepped in before Akihiko could retort. "Now, now, we're getting off topic." He turned back to Minato. "Long story short, we are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. SEES for short. On paper, we are a school club. In reality, we are a group dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader, and I am the advisor. We-"

"That's all well and good," Minato interrupted, "But why do we need to worry about defeating the Shadows?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Apart from their obvious inclination towards attempted murder, of course…"

"A Shadow feeds off the life force of the people who end up outside their coffin," Mitsuru replied. "Those victims essentially become walking corpses, forgoing all their normal activity. They abandon their jobs, families…lives, because of them."

Minato snapped his fingers as he recognized the symptoms from his own research. "You're talking about Apathy Syndrome!" That was why all of the cases seemed to be centered around Iwatodai! It was probably why it hadn't made national news yet either.

_The question is; how the hell did Gramps figure all this out before me? Better yet, why didn't he tell me about it before telling me to come here?_

She nodded in acknowledgement, surprise written across her face. He was surprisingly quick at putting the pieces together.

Minato nodded as he processed that information, then asked, "Ok, so what about that thing that Yukari summoned with the gun? It seemed to make that Shadow go nuts."

"There are those who can function during the Dark Hour, such as yourself," Ikutsuki explained. "Some of those rare individuals even have a rarer power that can be used to fight the Shadows. We call it… 'Persona'…" He gestured to the teens sitting around him. "Mitsuru and Akihiko have it…. Yukari has it…" Ikutsuki then pointed at him. "…And so do you."

Minato shook his head. "No, I don't. I used that Evoker thing, and it knocked me right out. Right, Yukari-san?" He looked at Yukari for confirmation, but she shifted uncomfortably, averting her eyes from his.

Ikutsuki looked at Mitsuru, who nodded and walked over to the bank of consoles on the wall. She input a string of commands and brought up the surveillance tape of the fight on the roof. He watched the tape carefully as he put the gun to his head and fired.

His eyes widened at what he saw. Even though he had slumped unconscious to the ground after pulling the trigger, the same blue flash of power that had come from Yukari started to emit from him too. He watched as the Persona burst out of him, then savagely destroyed the Shadow. He watched as it turned around, howled in victory, and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"That came out of me?"

Akihiko smirked. "Yeah, seems like a real powerful one. Congratulations."

Minato looked down at his hands, visibly shaken at what he had seen.

_There is no way that there is something that...violent inside me. I was fighting that thing to survive, to protect Yukari-san. That... monster looked like it __**enjoyed**__ killing it. _

A dark part of his mind snickered back at him.

**Is that so bad? To enjoy destroying that which threatened to kill you? After all, haven't you felt so powerless before…? If you knew then what you do now, would you have acted any different?**

Ikutsuki's voice broke through his thoughts. "Unfortunately, as powerful as it is, you appeared to have awoken it before it was ready. As such, you passed out."

Minato's face twisted in confusion. "Any idea why?"

Ikutsuki shook his head. "No, you seem to be a special case." His expression suddenly twisted into a grimace. "If you don't mind, can you explain something for me?"

Minato raised a confused eyebrow."Uh… sure."

"Most people have a violent physical reaction, similar to a panic attack, when being exposed to the Dark Hour for the first time, and express disbelief bordering on denial when the truth of the matter is explained to them." Ikutsuki's eyes narrowed. "You, on the other hand, walked from the train station to the dorm with no physical symptoms whatsoever on your first night here. Not only that, but you seem to have made some rather important leaps in logic during this debriefing, which begs the question; How?"

Minato's eyes widened. They'd figured it out?

A small smile came onto Ikutsuki's face as the trap closed. "Care to explain, Minato-kun?"

Minato's face contorted in sudden rage.

**How dare they ask that? They have no right! **

He caught himself before he could give voice to those thoughts. The sudden savagery of his own thoughts surprised him. This wasn't how he reacted to things like this. Apathy and sarcasm were his go-to ways of deflecting unwanted questions, but he had never reacted with outright hostility before. It was unprofessional, and more so, it worried him. He breathed in and out, calming his anger and forcing himself to think rationally.

_Ok, they are showing a great deal of trust in you by confiding these truths in you. That trust needs to be two way. You need to tell them the truth._

He sighed and relaxed, defeated. "The truth is… I'd already experienced this 'Dark Hour' before coming here."

Everyone else's eyes widened. "For how long?" Ikutsuki asked hesitantly.

"10 years."

Everyone froze at Minato's words.

"…What?" Mitsuru asked, eyes wide with surprise.

Minato nodded. "I've experienced the Dark Hour every night for the past 10 years."

Everyone gaped at him for a few long moments. Akihiko was the first to recover. "You've experienced the Dark Hour every night for the past 10 years?!" He exclaimed as he shot out of his seat. "How the hell have you survived against the Shadows for this long then?"

Minato shook his head. "That night a week ago was the first time I ever saw anything like those creatures before."

"You mean…you've never seen a single Shadow in the past 10 years?"

Minato nodded in acknowledgement, which caused Akihiko to slump back down into his chair. "Dammit, I was hoping you could tell us something new…"

"How interesting…" Ikutsuki muttered.

Mitsuru stared at Minato suspiciously. She thought that he had been put here through a random act of chance, but that theory was looking less and less likely by the second.

"I don't know why I have been experiencing the Dark Hour for so long." He said reluctantly. "That mystery is the whole reason that I am here."

That drew a few confused looks. He sighed. "You all know my parents died in an accident?" He got reluctant nods from each of them. So they did know his past. He continued. "What you probably _don't_ know, is that I have no memory of that day or of the preceding years. Psychological amnesia, they called it." He shook his head. "But I _do_ remember what came after."

He took a deep breath. "The night after I was admitted to the hospital, at around midnight, all the power went out. Every person there…the patients… the staff… They were all in huge coffins."

Mitsuru gasped. "The Dark Hour."

He nodded. "I was certain that my missing memories and my sudden introduction to this Dark Hour weren't a coincidence. They have to be connected, somehow." Minato swallowed his discomfort and asked the question that was bugging him the most. "So, now that you know all that, why I'm here…What do you want with me?"

Ikutsuki chuckled. "Why, we want you to join us, of course."

Mitsuru turned to Ikutsuki in shock. "B-but, Mr. Chairman, we talked about this! He's not ready! He can't even use his Persona correctly yet!"

Minato's lip curled in anger. Not ready? She had been listening to him, right? How much more ready could he be?! He'd been preparing for this for 10 goddamn years!

Ikutsuki sighed. "Mitsuru, be that as it may, he is a capable fighter. We can all attest to that. He may not be able to use his Persona right now, but he has more experience in the Dark Hour than any of you."

"As good of a fighter as he is, he's still not ready to come out and fight beside us!"

Ikutsuki smirked. "Oh, but didn't I hear that you wanted him to join the Fencing club as your new sparring partner? It's a perfect opportunity!"

Mitsuru's facial expression turned from one of concern and anger to fluster and confusion. "Y-yes, but that's not what I-"

Ikutsuki continued. "You get to train him to function well as part of the team, and you get a new sparring partner in the process. It's perfect!"

She thought that it was anything but perfect. She had no qualms against Arisato as a person; he had been nothing short of a gentleman to her. But putting a person who could not safely summon Persona into the field would complicate matters.

She would not be able to guarantee his safety, and to Mitsuru, the safety of her team was paramount. This new information about him also put his mental state into question. Someone who had dealt with the Dark Hour for so long without knowledge of it could not be as well-adjusted as he seemed to be, and that told her that he was still hiding things from them.

"Listen, Kirijo," Minato said, a harsh note in his tone, "I can't say that I'll ever awaken my 'Persona', or whatever, but I do know this; I _am_ going to follow this lead. This mystery has consumed my life for the past 10 years. I am positive that this holds the key to my memories. I _am_ going to solve it, with or without your help."

Anger burst into Mitsuru's chest. How dare he try to co-opt this group, _her _group, for his own purposes? He didn't have the right!

However, Minato's outburst seemed to embolden Ikutsuki. "See? It's all the more reason to have him with us. I'd rather have him use that enthusiasm to help us do our job."

Akihiko decided to throw his opinion out as well. He turned to Minato, a slight grin on his face. "Well, I can't say that I know squat about sword-fighting, but I could help with endurance training, muscle building, the works. I can get you in fighting shape for sure."

Yukari spoke up as well. "I've seen you fight. You look like you can handle yourself, and I think that you deserve answers as well. With Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai teaching you, I think that you will be fine. And, well, I trust you."

Her friendly, determined gaze made Minato feel slightly guilty. He couldn't return the feeling. He wouldn't.

The rest of the group turned to Mitsuru. She glared angrily at Minato, causing him to glare right back. "…I don't approve of this. However, it seems that my opinion does not matter in this case." She sniffed haughtily. "I can train you. It will be hard, and brutal. I hope that you can keep up." A sickly sweet smile appeared on her face. "I'd hate for you to get hurt."

Minato grimaced internally. He'd just made an enemy of the heiress to a Yakuza empire.

_I'm going to suffer for this. Probably soon. _

Ikutsuki smiled ignorantly as, to him, the debate was settled. He quickly pulled a silver case out from behind his chair and laid it down in front of Minato. He opened it. Inside was a red armband which read 'S.E.E.S', and a silver handgun, also engraved with the name of the club on it. "Welcome to SEES, Minato-kun."

.

.

.

(Well, that was a thing. This is the first one of these I've ever done and I really hope its ok. This is a concept that I have been kicking around in my head for a while now, and I finally feel good enough about it to put it out here for you all to read. Please review if you liked it, or if you have criticism about anything. Also, please send me a message if you have a question about anything relating to the story. Thank you for reading, and I will try to have the next chapter out before too much longer! - Dr. Ninja)

Edit: I hope that this rewrite provides a deeper insight into my MC's personality as well as greater context.

Edit 2: Oh, boy. This one was interesting. I hope this edit makes Minato's early personality a little more consistent.


	2. April 19th - 20th

April 19th, 2009

* * *

As it turned out, Minato had been right in his assumption. Mitsuru did not take long at all in getting revenge on him for his 'hostile takeover' of SEES the previous night.

He was rudely awakened by Akihiko at the crack of dawn, as he needed to (in her words), "be an effective member of the team as soon as possible." To compound the problem, he had gone to bed only a few hours beforehand, having tried to contact his grandfather to relay the information he had gathered on the Dark Hour and SEES throughout most of the night.

The torture that Akihiko called "training" was just the beginning of his troubles that day. After 5 hours of excruciating jogging, weight lifting, and sparring, he had been swept to the roof by Mitsuru, and had then been forced to spar with _her_.

Now, as proficient as he had been after his grandfather and his tutors had taught him fencing, he was sorely out of practice. After the incident 2 years ago, he'd never really taken the time to practice against another opponent. Mitsuru obviously had no such problem, and was, despite her age, perhaps the _best_ fencer he'd ever seen. After the 3rd bout in a row where she had beaten him with 5 moves or less, she yanked off her protective mask, her eyes shining with fierce anger.

"How is it that you were able to face a Shadow twice as strong and with 10 times as many blades as me and live, yet you can't even make one attack without me defeating you?!"

Minato yanked his mask off as well, his own anger evident. "Well, for_ starters_, I hadn't just run a _marathon_ before being forced to fight for my life! I had been sleeping, an activity that I would very much like to go back to right now. I _also_ hadn't just had the crap beat out of me by a world-class boxer literally minutes beforehand! Oh, and I also had _help _in that fight a week ago, in case you've forgotten_._" He scowled down at the practice mat they were standing on. "Plus, that Shadow and I weren't confined to a nylon training mat. We had this whole roof to fight on!"

She strode up to him, eyes glinting dangerously. "No excuses," She said, her tone deathly quiet. "There can be no excuses for why you cannot fight me and win. The Shadows are stronger, tougher and faster than we are. Our Personae are the only equalizing force that we have. Since you cannot control yours, you must learn to fight even when you think you cannot. I would think that would be obvious. But… if this is the attitude you will take when you face a Shadow, complaining about how _unfair_ it is… then I have no use for you." With that, she turned away haughtily, sending a wave of renewed anger through his system.

**She dares to even assume that you cannot win? She must learn her lesson.**

"Alright," he said in an arrogant tone, "One more bout."

She glanced back at him."…What was that?"

"One more bout," He repeated as she turned to face him. "I win; you get off your goddamn Persona high horse, and get serious about training me. That means real rest, and schedules, and actual training, not this… torture."

Her mouth twitched into a half-smirk. "And if I win?"

He shrugged. "Then we do it your way. I go to Ikutsuki, give him back the toys, and tell him I've reconsidered his offer."

She didn't even hesitate. "Deal." Minato stared after her as she turned to reclaim her discarded mask.

_Why do I feel that I just played right into her hand…?_

He shook his head. It didn't matter. He wasn't going to lose, not this time. This was too important. He slipped his mask back onto his head and set up on his line. She nodded to him, signaling she was ready. They saluted each other, and set off.

She almost got him, right out of the gate.

She leapt across the practice mat like a hellcat, trying to catch him with a jumping thrust. He had barely been able to parry it in time, redirecting the blow away from him. He attempted to riposte, but she batted his blade away with an almost contemptuous parry. He probed a couple of times to test her defenses, and nearly had his blade knocked out of his hands with a complicated flourish.

She'd simply been toying with him before, it seemed.

_Goddamn it…_

He retreated, attempting to gain time to plan his next move. Mitsuru wasted no time going on the offensive however, assaulting him with a flurry of thrusts and slashes. He was quickly losing ground, and did not have the strength to try and feel out her defenses again, lest he lose outright. He needed to be daring, to do something she wouldn't expect. He smirked behind his mask as he thought back to a movie he had watched a long time ago.

_I know something you don't..._

* * *

Mitsuru didn't hate Minato, despite his arrogance. She was doing this for his own good, to protect him. She needed people who had Persona that couldn't possibly kill their user every time they were summoned. Shinjiro had proven how devastating an untamed Persona could be, and she would not see another person driven to that state again.

So she was forced to play this… role. She was impossibly harsh on him, goading him, angering him, trying to force him to quit. She could tell that he was a good fencer, but as exhausted as he was, he was easy to fight. A few more seconds and he'd be too tired to defend against another heavy thrust. This bout was hers.

At least, that's what she thought.

In her overconfidence, she overcommitted, pushing an attack too hard, leaving her momentarily exposed. He was able to riposte with a quick thrust, forcing her to give ground in order to avoid being hit. In that small window, he did something that even she had not anticipated.

He switched the sword from his right hand to his left.

_He's ambidextrous?! _

This was a problem. She was effectively fighting on the same hand as him, and it was psychologically difficult for her to plan against. While she had been able to beat him easily as a right-hander, she could barely parry some of his ripostes as a left-hander. This was a weakness in her defense that she had always meant to deal with, but…

She shook her head. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the past.

_Focus on the present, and do your job as leader!_

* * *

It felt like he was barely conscious. He had slipped into his own mind, Mitsuru firmly in his sights. All of his focus was on one thing and one thing alone; beating her. One hit was all he needed. Parry. Thrust. Parry. Riposte. All his anger, his frustration… it all fell away here. All that existed was the fight.

_Her parries feel weaker when I attack from this side, and she leaves herself open on the other to compensate… where I can… There!_

A gap in her defenses showed itself, but only for a moment. He quickly pressed the attack, ignoring his screaming muscles and aching joints. The gap grew wider and wider with each flurry of blows, until…

**Now!**

She gasped as the tip of his sabre pressed into her upper right shoulder. It was a non-killing blow, but a disabling one, and a pure hit.

He'd won.

He whipped his mask off, smug happiness written on his face as he held out his hand to shake. "So…That's the match, right?"

She didn't say a word. She ripped off her mask and stormed past him, throwing the door open and storming down the stairs.

He snorted derisively. "Making friends, wherever I go…" He took a deep breath. "Fine, if she wants to be that sore a loser, then more power to her…"

A few minutes later, he sat on the edge of the roof, looking out into the city below, pondering what just happened.

Now that he had calmed down a bit, he could see something was wrong. Mitsuru running off like that had been… uncharacteristic of her. He had only known her a few days, but he could see that she was not a person that backed down from adversity, let alone _run_ from it.

Sure, he probably could have stood to be less of an ass, but she had been purposefully provoking it.

Still, running off like that… there had to be something else bothering her about him, and that in turn, bothered him. If he was going to be part of this team, he couldn't be at odds with the leader of the group like this. He sighed as he decided his next course of action.

_Could have just gone back to bed and slept for the rest of the day, but no. A pretty girl runs away from you and you gotta be the chivalrous knight, coming in to listen to her feelings, and totally not calling her out for being a bitch to you. Woohoo._

He got up and walked down to the 3rd floor. He ended up running into Yukari along the way, who evidently was coming back from her morning out with friends. "Hey, Minato-kun," She greeted before looking him up and down. "What's with the get-up?"

He looked down at himself. He was still wearing the fencing equipment Mitsuru had lent him, and it did look kind of silly without reference. "Well, um… Uh…" He sighed. "…it's complicated. Listen, which room is Mitsuru-san's? I may have done something bad to upset her, and… well, I wanted to apologize."

She snorted in disbelief. "You did something bad to Mitsuru-senpai and she _didn't_ execute you?" She whistled, impressed. "Must have been pretty bad if she just ran off. Well, her room is the first one on the left."

He smiled. "Thanks, Yukari-san."

She smiled brilliantly back at him. "Just Yukari. You saved my life, remember?"

_Um…Is she flirting with me?_

She laughed at the consternated expression on his face and walked over to her room. "Good luck with…whatever you're doing!" She offered before closing her door. Minato shook his head in amusement as he walked up to Mitsuru's door and knocked.

"Who is it?"

Minato mulled over his reply. He could've been sarcastic, and, to be fair, it was _really _tempting, but he decided that tact was more important in this instance. "It's me, Mitsuru-san," He said lightly. "I wanted to see if you were alright."

She answered with a curt, "I'm fine."

Obviously, she was not fine. "…May I come in, so I can see for myself?"

Ok, so he was really pushing his luck now.

An awkward moment passed before, all of a sudden, the door was yanked open and Mitsuru pushed out past him into the foyer. Her eyes were red with unshed tears, and her knuckles were white with tension.

She was _pissed._

She whirled around, a death glare focused firmly on him. "There, satisfied?!"

He was taken aback with how vehement she was. This couldn't have been caused by just him… could it? He shook his head. "...No. Why are you so upset?"

She spun around and walked over to the chairs that were placed in the middle of the foyer, and sat down in one, glaring at him. "Well, it could be because I have been _forced_ to train a person who can't control their Persona," She bit out angrily. "Or, perhaps it could be because that person is a potential _danger_ to my team," She continued, voice growing in volume, "Or, it could be because that person is an arrogant _fool_ who thinks that simply because he has experienced the Dark Hour for longer than us, he deserves to be a part of my team!"

Minato's eyes glinted dangerously as her words sunk in, and all concern vanished from his expression.

"Well," he bit out, "Forgive this arrogant _fool_ for checking to see if the _one_ person he thought could teach him to control that Persona was alright. It won't happen again."

* * *

She watched him storm down the stairs as guilt and regret washed over her. It wasn't his fault. It seemed that her default response to anything unexpected or embarrassing was anger. She had never been able to deal with embarrassment well, and he certainly hadn't deserved that kind of treatment from her.

If she was honest, she'd actually been rather impressed with him exploiting her weakness like that. It showed ingenuity and guts. Instead of congratulating him for it though, she'd run and hid and pouted like a child, simply because he'd beaten her at her own game. Then he'd shown up at her door, concerned about her even though she'd put him through hell. And what did she do? She blew up at him, simply because she was embarrassed and scared.

_Well done, Mitsuru. You made him resent you because you couldn't keep your anger in check. Not only that, but you couldn't even try to convince him that this was all for his benefit. What kind of leader are you? _

She stood up and trudged back into her room as the tears of frustration finally began to fall from her eyes.

* * *

He had been so irritated with what Mitsuru had said to him that he had gone to bed punching his pillow in anger. After he had finally fallen asleep, he started to dream.

_Pharos grinned at him from between the bars at the foot of his bed. "Trouble sleeping?"_

_"Yeah," Minato replied with a groan, "If you can count crazy red-headed women as a cause."_

_Pharos tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"_

_Minato barked out a short laugh. "Don't worry about it. Why are you here, Pharos?"_

_"Oh, I'm always with you now. That was part of the help I promised."_

_Minato laughed. "Oh, so I have an imaginary friend in my dreams now? That's gonna get awkward in some situations…"_

_"I'm not with you in every dream," Pharos said with a chuckle, "Just the ones concerning your future…and your past."_

_Minato's grin disappeared. "…My past? What do you mean? What do you know?"_

_Pharos frowned at the hostility rolling off of Minato. "Only what you do; Bits and pieces."_

_**Blood. Gunfire. Mom and Dad in a pool of blood. An inhuman shriek.**_

_Minato groaned as he held his head. "Goddamn that hurt…"_

_Pharos appeared to be catching his breath as well. "That is all I can see as well."_

_"That sucks. Thought you might be able to tell me something new," He said with a sigh. "So what now, do I just think about it real hard and it'll all come back to me?"_

_Pharos laughed. "Hardly. If it were that easy, you would have done it years ago." He turned away for a moment, looking over his shoulder as if he were being called. "Someone's there. Time to wake up."_

* * *

He heard Yukari's voice through his door as he shook himself awake. "Hey, are you awake in there?" He glanced out the window. It was dark out, meaning he had slept through the rest of the day. What a perfect use of his Sunday.

Minato yawned loudly. "…I am now. What's up, Yukari?"

He could practically feel her shrug through the door. "I don't know. All Akihiko-senpai said was to meet him downstairs."

Minato considered her words. On the one hand, he needed the sleep, and he was still pissed at Mitsuru; seeing her could be… problematic. On the other hand, it could be really important, and he didn't want to give her any more reason to want him off the team. He sighed.

_I really can't catch a break today, can I?_

"Alright, I'll be right down." Yukari's entirely-too-chipper voice came back through. "Ok! See you down there!"

After taking a moment to steel himself, Minato stood up. Regret hit instantly as his muscles immediately seized up from the torture they had suffered all day. He gasped at the pain, and cursed under his breath.

"Gonna beat the crap out of that silver-haired bastard…"

He barely managed to stumble his way to the front door where Yukari and Akihiko were waiting. Mitsuru, luckily for him, was nowhere in sight.

_Good, didn't want to have a fight this late anyways._

He waddled over to stand next to Yukari and asked, "What's up, Akihiko?"

Akihiko smirked at Minato's obviously pain-ridden state. "I told you to take the protein…" Before Minato could retort, however, he said, "There's someone I want you guys to meet." He reached over, opened the door and yelled out, "Come on, we don't have all night!"

A male voice responded. "Gimme a break! This stuff is pretty heavy!"

Yukari stiffened as Akihiko held the door open for the owner of the voice.

The voice turned out to belong to a teen with a half-goatee, a blue baseball cap, and a blue shirt. He wore the Gekkoukan uniform, and was pushing what looked like a mountain of bags into the dorm hallway. He managed to get the bag-mountain in the door and slumped in exhaustion after doing so. After noticing he had an audience, he straightened up and took a relaxed pose. "Heh-hey! What's up?"

Yukari exploded with all the force of a small bomb. "You?! You're moving in here?!"

Akihiko continued with the introduction as if Yukari had not just had a small meltdown. "This is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today."

"Isn't 2-F your class, too?" Minato whispered. Yukari nodded as she continued to stare at Junpei in disbelief.

"I bumped into him the other night," Akihiko explained. "He has the potential, but just awakened to it recently…"

At the word 'potential', Minato was reminded of his fight with Mitsuru and his face contorted in anger for a second.

_Just because I can't control my Persona doesn't mean that I can't help…_

Yukari scoffed angrily. "_You_ have the potential? For real?!"

Junpei appeared to not take offense, however. "Eh, he found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't remember much, but man, that was embarrassing!" He smiled knowingly at them. "He said that's, ya know, completely normal…at the beginning. Like, being confused and not remembering anything…Did you guys know that?"

"No, actually," Minato said with a frown. He remembered every single thing that had happened in the Dark Hour as though it were yesterday. Why was it only him though? "It's never happened to me before."

_Just what I need, another mystery added on top of everything else…_

"C'mon, man," Junpei said with a scoff, "You gotta know these things. You're a Persona-user, after all, and you gotta stay on top of it if you wanna be useful."

Minato would have thought fate was kinder than she was, before he met Junpei Iori. Somehow, the baseball capped teen had managed to tread on every sore point of the past day in the span of 2 sentences. He would have thought Mitsuru had done this as a joke if he didn't know that she probably wouldn't have thought it was funny.

He grinded his teeth as he contemplated what he was going to do to the baseball capped buffoon.

_Hmm, I could scare the crap out of him with my new sword. Ooh, or I could just kick the crap out of him right here. Wait, my muscles will try to kill me if I try that. Dammit! Well, I guess mind games will have to do._

Minato grinned disarmingly at Junpei. "Oh, I don't have a Persona."

Junpei gaped at him. "Then what are you doing here, man? What use are you?"

He would have laughed at how badly Junpei was digging himself into a hole if he wasn't so pissed. "Yeah," He said, his grin turning deadly, "I don't have a Persona, not really. That's cause the last time I tried to summon one, this Grim Reaper look-alike forced its way out of my body and killed every Shadow that threatened me, including the one that managed to injure Akihiko here."

Junpei just stared at the blue haired teen in disbelief as Akihiko grumbled at being reminded of his failure.

"But," Minato continued, "Seeing as how it's too powerful for me to control, I can't summon it anymore or it would probably kill me and everyone else in the room. So… technically, I don't really have a Persona. But I can fight Shadows. I just do it the old fashioned way; with steel and wit." He stuck out his hand. "Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you."

Junpei looked at Minato's hand for a moment before shaking it haphazardly. He floundered for a response for a few moments before resorting to just staring at him in disbelief and horror.

"Well," Minato said with a yawn, "Nice as it was to meet you, I have to get some sleep. I'll see you guys in the morning. Good night."

He trudged up the stairs as fast as his screaming muscles would allow. He could swear he heard Yukari's laughter as he collapsed on his bed again.

* * *

April 20th, 2009

* * *

Minato woke the next morning feeling surprisingly better than he had since his first day in Iwatodai, despite his sore muscles. He quickly washed up, and headed downstairs to head to school. He was surprised to see Mitsuru standing at the door, waiting. After sleeping on it, he had quickly gotten over his initial anger at her. After all, he had been just as rude to her and had probably deserved most of what she'd said. Still, that didn't mean he was just going to up and forgive her so easily.

So he walked over to her and said in a frigid tone, "Good morning, Kirijo-san. Waiting for me?"

It got the desired effect. She winced at his tone and use of her name, but she persevered. "I was. I wanted to apologize for my behavior the previous day."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't been expecting this. "Well, in that case, I would also like to apologize. I obviously did something to irritate you, and that set you off."

She shook her head in disagreement. "It's not something _you_ did." She sighed. "Would you like to walk to school with me, so I can explain?"

He was shocked. She had treated him like crap the previous day, and now she wanted to walk to school with him? He nodded, dumbfounded. "Sure."

"Excellent." She smiled brilliantly at him, and Minato felt his gut turn. "Shall we go?"

They walked out of the dorm, side by side, as Mitsuru began. "You see, I set up all of that exhaustive training to try and get you to quit yesterday."

"I gathered that, but why?"

"Because I've seen what happens when a Persona gets out of control." She hung her head. "We had another member a few years ago," She said regretfully. "He lost control of his Persona and…" She swallowed in discomfort. "The experience broke him. He swore off ever using his Persona again, and ran away from us." She looked at Minato, concern evident. "I will not let it happen to another member of my team."

Minato blinked. He had not expected this.

_She tried to get me to quit because she was concerned what might happen to me if I used my Persona? Well, that's… different._

He nodded to let her continue. She swallowed again, drawing a feeling of guilt from Minato. This was obviously hard for her, sharing this part of herself with someone who was a virtual stranger. "I did this because I am concerned that if I allow you to be a part of the team, you will be forced to use your Persona again. If that happens, it might kill someone. It could even kill you." Her eyes were filled with concern and worry. "I will not lose another friend."

He looked at her in surprise, then sighed.

_You're a sucker, Minato. A pretty girl gives you the puppy dog eyes, and you just start eating out of the palm of her hand._

He could hardly blame her, looking from her perspective. He had been lying to her, kind of. That made him an unknown variable, and a potential danger to her team. He would probably have done the same, in her position, honestly.

Still, she needed to know that he wasn't going to give up.

"I… understand your concern," He said with a sigh. "Truly, I do. But I have the same right to explore this Dark Hour as the rest of you, Persona or not. However… if it will make you feel any safer, I will give you my Evoker." Her face twisted in surprise at his offer. "That way I won't be tempted to use it at all. In addition, I will remove myself from any missions you feel are too much."

He raised a finger. "In return however, I want you to really train me. If I am to be a part of this team, I need to pull my own weight, and without a Persona, that's going to be harder to accomplish. Like you said, they're stronger, faster, and tougher than we are." He smiled at her. "I need your help."

She nodded as she thought over his words. "It's not a perfect solution by any means, but we both get what we want, for now." She stuck out her hand. "Deal."

He shook, and he felt all animosity towards her fall away. She was just worried about her team, and his eventual place on it. He could hardly fault her for that, much less be angry about it. In fact, it was even admirable.

_However…that doesn't mean she gets off scot-free… _

Minato smirked. "So, uh…I'm your friend now?"

She blushed as she remembered her earlier words. "Uh…I…I-it was just a figure of speech!"

Minato gave a fake pout. "Aww, I was looking forward to spreading the word that I am Mitsuru-san's _special _friend…"

Her face contorted in anger, now colored a furious scarlet. "You what!?" She stammered. "I-I'll execute you if you do any such thing!"

He just laughed, causing her to blink in confusion. "You're pretty easy to tease, you know that?"

After a moment, Mitsuru shook her head and smiled. She'd been had, it seemed.

_How surprisingly coy. I didn't know he had it in him._

They walked the rest of the way to the train station together, both at ease after they had reached an understanding of one another. They chatted amiably about the homework and classwork they had due for that day, until they both filed into the classroom and took their seats.

* * *

After class broke for lunch, Mitsuru turned to him and said, "I forgot to mention earlier, the Chairman has something important to share with us tonight. Head home straight after school, ok?"

Minato nodded. Mitsuru stood up and said, "I need to inform Takeba and Iori about this as well."

At the sound of Junpei's name, Minato's face lit up with equal parts amusement and anger. "Oh, can you tell Junpei that I said hello? It's very important to me." She nodded a confused look on her face.

Minato watched her turn to leave, and felt a twinge of some unknown emotion tear through him.

"When you get done, want to get some lunch together?" He said before he could stop himself.

_What are you doing?!_

She turned to him, surprise written on her face. "Unfortunately, I have something I have to do for Student Council…"

Inwardly, he sighed in relief.

"...But, I'll take a rain check, if you wouldn't mind."

He nodded in acknowledgement as his stomach fell. "Sure."

When she left the room, he slammed his head on his desk, drawing a few confused glances.

_What in the hell was that, Minato? The two of you just had a huge row about how you bullied your way onto her team! Besides, you want another Haruya to happen? No mixing business and pleasure!_

Despite this barrage of mental self-reproach, he couldn't help but feel strangely happy at her sort-of acceptance.

* * *

After school, Minato ran into Akihiko on his way out of the door. The silver haired teen was trailed by a pack of younger girls, all of whom were giggling and sending him longing looks. If he noticed this however, he didn't show it. He walked up to Minato and said, "So, how's the training going?"

Being reminded that his whole body was sore sent a wave of irritation through Minato. "Well, considering I can barely move my arms without them screaming in pain, it's going pretty well. You?"

Akihiko smirked. "Oh, you'll get used to that. Don't worry. As for me, I'm doing pretty well, even though my injuries are keeping me from practicing my hardest. Well, you heading back to the dorm? Want some company?"

"Sure, but are all of them coming to the meeting too?" He said with a smirk. "I'm not sure how many of them are Persona-users, though."

Akihiko glanced back at the giggling cadre of girls following close by, causing him to shuffle in discomfort. "Oh, _them_," He said, his tone lowering in embarrassment. "I-I don't really know any of them. They just follow me around and giggle constantly." He sighed. "It gives me a headache."

Minato smiled evilly, recognizing his chance for revenge. "Well, you know…" He said conspiratorially, "I could help you give them the slip."

Akihiko gave him a surprised look before smirking. "…Ok, what did you have in mind?" Inwardly, Minato chuckled.

_Hook, line, and sinker…_

"Well, first off, let's head into that alley."

They slipped into the alleyway to their right, which had several dumpsters lined on the walls. Perfect. Minato quickly grabbed Akihiko and shoved him towards one of the dumpsters. "Quick, get in there!"

Akihiko blanched. "But it's a-"

Minato glared at him, cutting him off. "Quickly, we don't have much time! In you go!"

With a groan of discomfort, Akihiko gingerly climbed into the mostly empty dumpster and crouched. "When they pass, I'll give you the all clear," Minato said as he shut the dumpster door. The girls rounded the corner a moment later, their faces twisting with confusion until they spotted him leaning on the dumpster. As they walked over to him, he snickered. This was going to be good.

The girl at the front asked, "Hey, where did Aki-kun go?"

Minato smirked and said, "Oh, he ran down the alleyway. Think he forgot something at school."

The girls shrieked in dismay. "Quickly, back to school! Maybe we can catch him and get him to walk us home!"

Minato smirked as he watched them bolt out of the alley. After a few moments, he heard Akihiko's voice come out of the dumpster. "They gone?"

"Not yet," Minato replied, attempting to hold in his laughter. He then quietly walked out of the alley and back towards the dorm, a big smirk on his face. Akihiko was not gonna be happy when he finally figured out that he hadn't asked what the all-clear actually was.

* * *

When Akihiko showed up at the dorm an hour later, he was bright red with anger. Minato was sitting on the couch next to Yukari, reading a textbook when he came in. Yukari got up to greet him as Minato snickered into his hand.

"Hello, Senpai. What kept…," She trailed off as the smell of garbage wafted over her. She quickly put her hand under her nose in disgust. "Oh, god, what is that smell?!"

Minato couldn't keep his laughter contained any longer, breaking out into a full belly laugh. "Y-you didn't hear the a-all-clear, Aki-kun?"

Akihiko glared daggers at the blue haired teen, then smirked with self-righteous fury. He would get his revenge. He stormed upstairs without another word, leaving Minato to his laughing fit.

Yukari turned and glared at Minato, who was wiping a tear from his eye as his laughter subsided. "What did you do to him?"

"Not much," Minato said, shrugging in indifference. "I helped him escape from some not-so-secret admirers."

She raised an eyebrow. "So why the smell?"

"Cause he hid in a dumpster."

Her face twisted in surprise, and then amusement. "This is for the workout he put you through yesterday, isn't it?"

He gasped in mock hurt. "Why, I would never resort to such base tactics to get revenge. You wound me, Yukari."

She smirked. "Yeah, I bet. Just like you wouldn't perpetuate a rumor about us dating, huh?"

"Ha! Exactly." He gestured toward the stairs. "C'mon. We better head up to the meeting."

* * *

Mitsuru heard hysterical laughter from downstairs and decided to investigate. She walked out of her room and down the stairs when she saw a livid Akihiko walking up. "What's going on?" She asked. A second later, the smell answered her question.

Akihiko grimaced as her face contorted in disgust. "Minato tricked me. I'm gonna get that blue-haired bastard back for this if it's the last thing I do…"

He had gotten revenge on them both for their behavior yesterday, it seemed. Mitsuru counted herself fortunate that she had only warranted some light-hearted teasing. She hid her laughter at Minato's antics behind a cough. "You should probably wash up, Akihiko. The meeting will start soon."

All anger disappeared from his face as he remembered the meeting, and the subject of said meeting. A smile broke out. "Hell, yes. I'll be up in a few." He quickly pushed past her to his room, the smell wafting after him. She grimaced and quickly headed for the fourth floor lounge, to wait for the rest of the team to show up, and, partially, to escape the smell.

Minato and Yukari walked into the lounge shortly after Mitsuru had. Mitsuru glanced at the two. They seemed to have become fast friends, joking and talking companionably with each other.

A twist of an unknown emotion shot through her stomach at the thought, and disappeared as quickly as it came. She shook her head as the feeling passed.

She smiled as she thought of his antics with Akihiko. The blue haired teen just continued to surprise her. He had somehow manipulated Akihiko into a compromising situation, despite only knowing him for a few days. That suggested a good tactical mind, with the planning and foresight necessary to use it, even if it had been for a practical joke.

_Well, two can play at that game, and I hate to lose…_

She said, "I noticed Akihiko when he was coming upstairs, Minato-san."

He froze at Mitsuru's use of his first name, to her amusement. He recovered quickly however, attempting to deflect with a charming smile. "Kinda silly, isn't he? Hiding in a dumpster just to escape some girls? How desperate can you be?" He laughed unconvincingly. To her credit, Yukari simply rolled her eyes at his performance.

Mitsuru smirked as the trap closed. "Well, I didn't know that. He neglected to mention that to me. Thank you for clearing that up." His jaw dropped, sending another wave of amusement through her. She let him stew for a few moments before saying in a light, amused tone, "Next time, try not to do something quite so vulgar. The smell was terrible."

Yukari let out a bark of laughter at Minato's stunned expression. "Well played, Senpai. Well played."

She grinned. "Thank you, Takeba," She said as she sat back in her seat, satisfied.

_I'm not the only one who's easy to tease…_

* * *

The sudden appearance of Ikutsuki and Akihiko broke Minato out of his dazed state, as he tensed and stared at the silver-haired teen. Akihiko walked around behind Minato, put his hand on Minato's shoulder and squeezed. "I'll get you back for this during your next training session."

Minato grinned. "Eh, it was worth it."

Junpei came in soon afterward and sat down with the rest of the group, causing Ikutsuki to clear his throat. "Good, everyone's here. I'd like your undivided attention, everyone. Now, for a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko have been the only Persona-users we had. That number has recently jumped to 5."

Akihiko coughed as he said under his breath, "4 and a half…"

Mitsuru glared at him, but there was no fire in her eyes. Ikutsuki continued. "Therefore, starting tonight, at 12:00 am, I would like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

Minato tilted his head in confusion. "Tartarus?"

Yukari looked at him in surprise. "You haven't seen it, Minato-kun?"

He shook his head. Ikutsuki nodded knowingly. "That's no surprise, since it only appears during the Dark Hour."

Minato raised his eyebrow as Junpei said, "Only during the Dark Hour? What is it?"

"It's the perfect place for us to train," Akihiko said, voice dripping with anticipation. "Think of it as a Shadow nest."

Junpei shuddered. "Their nest, huh…"

"Ikutsuki-san, what about me?" Minato said concernedly. "I… don't really have access to my Persona yet, and…" He glanced at Mitsuru. "…I don't really think I'm ready for field operations just yet either."

Ikutsuki nodded, and then looked to Mitsuru. "What do you think?"

She nodded in agreement with Minato's assessment. "Arisato needs a bit more training before I think that he's ready to go into Tartarus. However, he is skilled enough that I feel comfortable with him staying with me at the entrance. So, Akihiko, you will be field leader for tonight's expedition. However," She added, glaring at him, "You are still injured, so you will only participate in combat if, and _only_ if, absolutely necessary."

He glared right back at Mitsuru, disappointed he would not get to fight, but accepted her conditions. "Alright."

Junpei stood up, a cocky grin on his face. "Relax, guys. I've got your backs."

Somehow, this fact did not reassure Minato.

Ikutsuki smiled. "Alright, it's settled. Good luck, everyone, and be safe!"

* * *

They quickly filed out of the dorm and headed to the train station. Minato was confused. Where exactly was Tartarus? As the train rounded to corner to showcase Tatsumi Port Island, however, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew where they were heading.

_No way. That would be too ironic for words._

As they walked up to the gate of Gekkoukan High School, Minato laughed. Junpei looked at him as though he were crazy, then turned to look at the school. "It's…here?!"

"Quiet," Akihiko said, shushing him. "It's almost the Dark Hour."

As if on cue, the world shifted to a sickly shade of green, and the lamps over the gate suddenly shut off. Things were still for a moment, then all of a sudden, the ground began to tremble as their school transformed. Massive structures forced their way out of the ground toward the sky, twisting and turning in an Escher style grace, eventually forming what looked to be a gigantic tower.

Akihiko opened the gate and gestured grandly at the gargantuan building. "Welcome to Tartarus."

Minato chuckled. "I heard that school was Hell, but I never imagined that someone or something would take it quite so literally."

For a moment, Junpei just gaped at the concrete monstrosity. When he came to, he yelled, "What happened to our school?!"

Mitsuru chuckled good-naturedly at Junpei's reaction. "Once the Dark Hour passes, the school returns to normal. There isn't a need to be so worried, Iori."

His face contorted with annoyance, but quickly switched to cockiness. "I wasn't worried! Just intrigued, was all."

Minato stared up at the tower. Had this had been here the whole time? A question wormed its way through his head. "Why?"

Mitsuru turned to him. "Why, what?"

He looked at her in confusion. "Why here, of all places?"

A flash of panic momentarily came across Mitsuru's face, but she settled back into her calm demeanor. "I don't know." She replied.

His eyes narrowed.

**She lies! She has knowledge of what this place is and she refuses to share! **

_But, it doesn't make sense not to tell us…Unless she's involved. Or if not her, maybe her family...? _

At that thought, he remembered something that Yukari had said in passing, something about the Kirijo Group owning the school. It would explain some of their investment in this crisis, but only by so much. There had to be something more...

_But why? What could have happened here that is so bad that she can't or won't tell us? _

He was tempted to call her out, but…something in her eyes made him pause. He shook his head. He'd just made peace with her. It wouldn't be wise to aggravate her again so soon. Instead, he could research the Kirijo Group and its history when he had the chance. Maybe that would provide some insight.

Yukari spoke up in the uncomfortable silence that had occurred. "Who cares? It's not like it would change our minds about fighting…"

Akihiko nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Maybe we can find out why inside. This is our first time actually exploring it."

Mitsuru shook her head. "You are still injured, Akihiko. We will only be progressing through the first floor tonight, to give our newer members a taste of what we must deal with."

"I know, I know…" He grumbled as he gestured for everyone to follow, leading them all into the towering monstrosity.

* * *

The lobby held a giant staircase that lead to a giant door, suspended in air. There was a green pad to the right of the exit, and a clock to their left. A motorcycle rested next to the stairs.

Junpei made noises of wonder as they stepped around the lobby. The room felt alien, yet strangely comforting. "Wow, it's just as cool and weird0 on the inside."

Mitsuru smirked at his childlike wonder. "This is only the entrance. The labyrinth is beyond that door." Minato swallowed nervously. A labyrinth?

_Oh, great. The answers I want lie beyond a tower of my greatest weakness; mazes._

"Ok, guys, listen up," Akihiko said, turning to his younger teammates. "As you all know, we are only going to be exploring the first floor today, since we're so understaffed at the moment."

"Yeah, right," Junpei scoffed dismissively. "We have all we need right here, right, Yuka-tan?"

Minato snickered at the silly nickname he had given Yukari, as said girl glared at Junpei. "Listen, Stupei. It's just going to be me and you fighting in there today. Akihiko-senpai is only there to give us the right orders to fight off the Shadows. If you don't respect what these things can do, then we are dead. Do you understand?"

Junpei stared in shock at Yukari' vehemence. He quickly put his hands up in surrender. "I get it, Yuka-tan. You can count on me. I promise."

Yukari looked at his put-upon expression and sighed regretfully. "Alright then. I'm sorry I bit your head off, it's just… well…" Her eyes unfocused for a moment, before she shook her head. "…The last time I fought one of these things, it didn't go so well."

"I gotcha," He said, nodding in sympathy before turning and looking at Akihiko. "Ready when you are, Senpai."

Akihiko looked at Yukari, who nodded. "Ready."

He smiled in satisfaction, looked at Mitsuru and said, "Ok, we're heading in."

Mitsuru nodded back, walked over to the motorcycle, and pulled out a mobile transmitting station. "Alright. I'm set for support. Good luck, everyone."

The three teens scaled the staircase and stepped through the giant door. It fell closed behind them with a giant bang.

"You know..." Minato said lightly, "As irritated as I am that I can't go in and help them… I'm kind of glad that I don't." Mitsuru glanced at him in surprise. He gave her a sideways grin as he adjusted the new rapier on his hip. "I'm horrible with directions," he explained, "And I hate mazes."

She gave him a small smile at the admission of his flaw. "Luckily for us…" she replied, "I have that covered." She pulled her Evoker out of her holster with a flourish and put the barrel against her temple before pulling the trigger. "Persona!"

A being appeared behind Mitsuru as the sound of glass breaking passed throughout the lobby. It was a tall, womanish figure in an armored cuirass with a rapier in one hand, a dagger in the other, and a crown on its head. Minato stared intently at the being. It appeared to take many of its features from aspects of Mitsuru's personality.

_Well, duh. Persona, Personality. Of course they would be related._

"So this is a real Persona, huh?" He said, awed by the figure's presence.

She frowned at his apparent disregard for his own Persona, but let it slide. "Yes, this is Penthesilea. Say hello." Penthesilea nodded to Minato wordlessly, then took its crown off, and put it on Mitsuru's head.

Minato smirked as the crown slipped onto Mitsuru's head. "So, now the queen has her crown."

Mitsuru smiled at his good-natured teasing, and said. "This is the main reason that I am out here and not in there. The layout of Tartarus changes every day. You need someone guiding you if you want to be able to make it out again, which is where I come in. Penthesilea can 'see' into Tartarus, even from out here. This terminal here allows me to funnel that ability, and communicate directly with the group. Speaking of which…" She put her hand on the console, and Minato felt a tug at the back of his mind.

"Hello, can everyone hear me?" He heard Mitsuru say twice. Once through his ears, once in his mind. That was impressive. An ability like Mitsuru's would definitely come in handy while searching a place like Tartarus. He frowned. His own Persona seemed only suited towards one thing, and that thought worried him more than anything.

Apparently the group was ready, as Mitsuru said, "Very well. Let the operation commence!"

* * *

Junpei could hardly believe what he was doing. A week ago, he had just been another loser. Now, he was a hero, fighting to protect his people! His Persona, Hermes, made taking out Shadows easy too. He and Yuka-tan had made short work of pretty much everything that they had come across, and Akihiko-senpai had approved of the way that they had dealt with everything so far.

During a long walk down a quiet hallway, his thoughts turned to Minato, the mysterious new guy who 'technically' didn't have a Persona, and who, despite his tough words last night, seemed to be ok taking a back seat to the rest of them. What was his deal, anyways? Did he really mean all those things he said last night about the Grim Reaper?

He shook his head. Why did he care anyway? The guy wasn't in here with them, so that made him useless in Junpei's eyes.

_It's not that he's a bad guy, he's just not strong enough to handle this kind of stuff right now. It's kinda like how you don't send Robin to do Batman's job. Wait, now there's an idea!_

He grinned as the image of Minato dressed up as a costumed sidekick came into his mind.

_Heh, that would get the stick out of his ass..._

He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear Mitsuru's warning. "_Watch out! I sense a powerful Shadow!" _

As if the Shadow were a stage performer waiting for its cue, it leapt down from a hidden perch in the ceiling. This one was massive! It was twice the size of anything else they had faced today! It had powerful crushing arms and hands the shape of maces, and looked heavily armored.

He shook his head clear of those negative thoughts.

_That doesn't matter. We can take this thing! _

He heard the call to retreat too late.

* * *

Mitsuru cursed under her breath. She had not been able to sense the Shadow until it was too late. This one, she had concluded after her analysis, was a tough one. It could easily have taken her and Akihiko both out at the same time, even in their prime. The others, inexperienced as they were, didn't have a chance. She quickly ordered a retreat, but got no response. She repeated the order, only for Akihiko's panicked voice to resonate in her head.

"_Junpei's hit! He's injured!" _

Mitsuru cursed again. She did not want to lose anyone, especially on their first foray into Tartarus.

"Can you retrieve him?" She asked, panic slipping into her voice.

"_No, this thing's too fast! Yukari! Distract it!" _

"_Roger!"_

"_Polydeuces!"_

A moment passed before Akihiko's worried voice came back through the line.

"_Mitsuru, I don't know if we can beat this thing…"_

Akihiko's admission scared her. If Akihiko didn't know if they could win… She steeled herself for what she had to do. "I'm coming in."

"_Not a chance! If you enter, we have no guarantee we'll ever get out again!" _She cursed for a third time. Akihiko was right. If she left to enter Tartarus, she would not be able to guide them out again. If she didn't, then they would die. She closed her eyes in frustration.

_What do I do…?_

Before she could think of anything else, however, she heard footsteps echo off the marble floor. She spun around to see the door to Tartarus slam shut once again.

Minato was gone.

Her eyes widened as she pieced together what had happened, quickly turning back to her terminal. She found him standing in the entrance hall of the labyrinth, as if he were waiting for her. She smirked.

_I guess that it's a trial by fire for you, Arisato._

"Arisato, can you hear me?"

His calm voice came back through. _"Yeah. Look, I know what you're gonna say, but let's save the lecture for after we get the rest of the team home, ok?" _His tone left no room for argument.

She sent a wave of agreement over the line, and started to feed him directions. "Head down the corridor, then take the second right…"

* * *

He really hated mazes. That was something that he already knew. However, being trapped in one with a huge monster on the other end, really, **really** made him hate mazes. How Theseus had dealt with this crap in the legends escaped him. Luckily for him, he had his own personal guide through the twisting corridors of Tartarus. Mitsuru's calm and succinct directions were simple enough to make it so he only got turned around once. He ran around a corner to a long hallway, and heard sounds of fighting at the other end.

He drew his rapier and ran down the hallway as fast as he could. His muscles were screaming from abuse, but he ignored the pain. As he drew closer to the sounds of fighting, Mitsuru's voice lit up inside his head. _"I've analyzed the enemy! It is weak to fire!" _

"Ok, thanks for the heads up!" Minato replied, shaking his head. The tip was nice, but what good would it do him? He didn't have anything to set a fire with!

After a few tense moments of running, he finally reached where the fight was happening. The Shadow had already knocked Yukari unconscious, and was currently advancing on Junpei. Junpei didn't look like he was doing too well, as he was holding his side and breathing heavily. Still, he was on his feet, and that meant he was still combat-effective. Akihiko, on the other hand, had his Evoker out and was attempting to pull the trigger, but to no avail. His injuries seemed to have sapped his strength, preventing the Persona summoning.

Minato took all this information in, and formed a battle plan in a second.

Distraction.

"Hey! Tall, bright and ugly! Fresh meat!" The Shadow turned to him quizzically, as though it didn't quite understand what he was. It soon shook its confusion off and attempted to crush Minato under one of its huge legs. He rolled under it, slashing the underside of its body as he went past.

Unfortunately, the attack only did marginal damage, causing a small trickle of shadowy-gore to ooze out of the cut. The Shadow's head rotated on its body, and it started advancing on him and Junpei, who had stumbled to his side.

"Junpei?"

"Yeah?"

"You have enough in you for another shot with your Persona?"

"Yeah," He said with a nod, "But…what do I hit it with?"

They leapt away from each other as the Shadow attempted to crush them again. "I don't know!" Minato yelled, scrambling to his feet. "What do you have!?"

Junpei's eyes rolled up into the back of his head for a moment, as if he were consulting his Persona. "Bash and…Agi!" He yelled back.

Minato quickly rolled away from another crushing slam and slashed the Shadow along its leg. The Shadow buckled and fell to the ground, but only for a second. Minato exhaled in frustration. "What the hell is an Agi?!"

Junpei took advantage of the momentary weakness and ran in, slashing the Shadow's arm with his large katana, then backed off again as it attempted to flail at him. "It's fire, dude! Like honest to god fireballs!"

Minato laughed incredulously. There was no way. The one person here who had fire was the idiot who got them into the mess in the first place. "Alright," He yelled as he formed a plan in his head. "Hit it with your fire when I give the word! Got it?!"

"Got it!"

Minato ran at the Shadow at full tilt. The Shadow swung its flail-like fist down to where he would have been, had he not slid at the last second, his momentum carrying him straight under. He stood up from his slide, ran under the Shadow and slashed both of its legs as deeply as he could. The Shadow made an inhuman groan as it fell face first onto the ground.

"Now!" Minato yelled, backing off as far as possible from the Shadow.

Junpei yanked his Evoker out of its holster, put it against his head and pulled the trigger. "Hermes! Agi!" His winged Persona shimmered into existence and thrust its hand out, sending a fireball flying at the downed Shadow. Fire engulfed the Shadow, boiling away its armor and exposing its amorphous body. Minato quickly ran around to where the 'head' of the Shadow had been and stabbed his rapier viciously into it. It creaked and clanked as its remaining metallic parts lost their animating force, and the Shadow quickly melted into a messy black puddle of gore.

They'd done it.

* * *

Junpei walked over to Minato, newfound respect blazing within him. "Dude, that was freaking awesome. You looked so cool coming in here like that, and then when you-"

"Your recklessness nearly cost the whole team their lives, Junpei," Minato said, angrily.

Junpei recoiled in shock. "Wha-"

"This isn't a game," He continued, cutting off Junpei's protest. "There are some fights that you simply cannot win. You need to be able to recognize those instances, and be able to react accordingly. This one, if I hadn't come in, would have cost you your life, and the lives of the team." He glared at Junpei. "For your sake, don't _ever _make this mistake again." With that, he walked away, probably to check on Akihiko and Yukari.

Junpei was livid.

_I come over here to congratulate him on a good job, and he yells at me? In front of everyone!? Who the hell made him king of the goddamn mountain? _

The way Junpei saw it, this guy hadn't really done anything of use. If anything, he'd just stolen all the credit for the kill. After all, it was Junpei's Persona that had made the difference in the battle, not Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass. He scoffed. It didn't matter. None of it did.

* * *

Minato had been able to wake Yukari after a few minutes of prodding and helped her up, slinging her arm over his shoulder. "Alright, Mitsuru-san. Where to?" They were quickly guided to a pad that Mitsuru was sure would teleport them back to the entrance.

When they stepped on the pad, a weird sense of vertigo shot through them, and all of a sudden, they were back in the lobby. Mitsuru came over to the group, worry in her eyes. "How is everyone doing?"

Yukari made a half-hearted smile, which was ruined when she winced from her injuries. Akihiko had a silly smile on his face from the adrenaline running through him, and he made a thumbs up. Junpei gingerly touched his side, but turned back to Mitsuru and said. "All good, Senpai." Minato smirked at her in a knowing way, and made a thumbs up as well.

She let out a sigh of relief. They all appeared as though they would be fine. She smiled at all of them and said, "I know it got rough at the end, but I'm impressed," She looked at Minato. "With all of you."

Minato nodded wordlessly in acknowledgement, then said, "Do we have any medical supplies on hand, Mitsuru-san? Yukari can probably wait, but I'd rather get started on treating her now."

She nodded, grabbed the emergency first aid kit out of the motorcycle's kit bag and handed it to him. He nodded in thanks, sat Yukari down on the steps and started treating her more serious injuries with a steady hand. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew how to treat injuries?

Junpei scoffed and walked over to the exit, presumably to wait for the rest to gather up to leave. His attitude seemed off from earlier, she noticed. She walked over to Akihiko. "Is there anything I should know about?"

Akihiko snorted. "Our bluenette is not making many friends. He berated Junpei for rushing in and putting the rest of the team in danger."

She smiled for a moment at the 'bluenette' comment, but frowned at the report of Minato's behavior. "Why did he do that? That is a job for me to do as leader, and regardless, it's certainly not something you do in front of the rest of the team."

"I don't know," Akihiko said with a shrug. "He said something about it not being a game, knowing that there are fights you can't win, and knowing what to do when you see it."

A sound breakdown of what went wrong in the fight. The evidence that he was more than what he appeared to be just kept mounting up. "Hmm, there is definitely more to Arisato then we know," She said, voicing her thoughts. "The question is, why didn't the background check catch any of it?"

"I don't know," Akihiko said with a shrug. "Maybe this is something to talk with your father about?"

She shook her head. "No, it's all right. We don't need to bother him with this, and besides…" She looked over to the teen who was wrapping up Yukari's injuries. "...Somehow, I think that those are his secrets to tell."

She looked back to Akihiko, forcefully tearing her gaze away from the two teens. That strange feeling had come back, in force, and it made her uncomfortable. "Anything else of note I should know about the team?"

Akihiko looked back at Minato, then to the corner where Junpei was pouting. "Well, Minato was right about Junpei's actions. He acts recklessly, always the first one into combat. Yukari could barely keep up with him at times. He's a great fighter, though. Unorthodox, but powerful. Yukari seemed to handle herself alright, injuries excluded. She seems to have gotten over her fear of using her Persona, and made several excellent maneuvers during that last fight. Her injuries could have been much worse."

Mitsuru nodded in agreement. "I had a feeling Iori would be a handful. And Arisato? How did he do?"

Surprisingly, Akihiko smiled. "He came in to a screwed situation, and within a minute, made it out with the enemy defeated and everyone more or less intact. He drew up a battle plan on the fly using all of the available pieces he had, then executed and achieved victory with it. He never hesitated, and showed no fear during the entire fight." He shook his head, impressed. "With some slight training on how to deal with the Shadow's various elemental attacks, he could be a fantastic combat specialist, and I think that he's a prime candidate to take over as field leader."

Mitsuru raised a surprised eyebrow. Akihiko was rarely impressed by other's skill, but had nothing but praise for Minato's handling of the Shadow tonight.

_Still…_

"Iori looks like he's ready to punch the wall because of what Arisato said to him," She said with a critical tone. "Still think that he's the best candidate for leader?"

"Well," He said with a shrug. "I can think of one way to find out."

* * *

After a painful few minutes, Minato had finished patching up Yukari to the best of his abilities. She was already looking much better, having regained some of the color in her cheeks. She smiled at him. "Looks like no matter what I do, you are always saving me."

"It's one of my favorite hobbies, Makoto." He froze. He hadn't meant to say that. Where had that come from?

Yukari raised a confused eyebrow. "Makoto? Are you ok, Minato-kun? You didn't get hit on the head or anything, right?"

"I'm fine," He said with a nod. "Sorry about that. It's just… I guess that you remind me of my sister."

Yukari smiled slightly. "Oh really? What's she like?"

* * *

_A hospital room, cold and clean. "Makoto's gone," they say. Mom and Dad kneel down and hug you as your heart breaks. "Makoto…"_

* * *

"I don't… really know," He replied honestly. "She died before the accident; that much I know. All I have are the bits and pieces that show up in flashes of memory."

Yukari tilted her head in confusion. "Then how do you know I'm like her?"

Minato shook his head, similarly confused. "I honestly don't know. I was just treating you and… her name popped into my head." He dropped his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

Yukari shook her head. "It's alright. I don't mind."

A small, genuine smile formed on his face. "Thanks…for understanding."

"It's no problem." She said genially. The two of them sat there for a moment in silence before Yukari grimaced. "Hey, you know-"

She was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards them. The two of them turned to see Mitsuru looking right at Minato with a strange look in her eyes. "Arisato, can I speak with you privately?"

Yukari looked between them for a moment, then stood up and walked down the hall, a slight limp in her step. Minato watched her go with concern, and then turned back to the redheaded teen. "What's up, Mitsuru-san?"

She sat down next to him and linked her hands together in her lap. "Akihiko told me what you said to Iori in there."

Minato grimaced. He hadn't meant to be that harsh with Junpei, but had lost his temper when the guy walked up to him without a care in the world after he'd nearly gotten his team killed. "Look, I'm not sorry about what I said in there; it was a truth he needed to hear."

"I agree," She replied with a nod. "But… it was something that could have been done without compromising his rapport with the rest of the team."

Minato exhaled in frustration. He knew she was right, he just hated to admit it. Junpei was a part of the team, perhaps even more so than he was. To try and strip him of that, intentionally or not, was unfair. Besides, despite the fact that this was Junpei's first time out fighting Shadows, he had adapted remarkably well, and fought with courage.

Regardless of his own opinion, Junpei was needed.

"I'll apologize to him for calling him out in front of everyone," He said with a sigh. "He's a good fighter, even if he is reckless. We need him."

She smiled slightly and nodded. "That's all I ask, Arisato."

He nodded, and got up to go talk to Junpei.

* * *

Junpei was still pacing wildly next to the exit when Minato found him. He stopped pacing as he noticed Minato's approach and squared his shoulders, as if he expected Minato to attack at any second.

Minato sighed as he put his hands up in surrender. "Look, I didn't come here to fight you."

Junpei snorted derisively. "…If you're lookin' to call me reckless again, you can turn right back around. I don't wanna hear it."

Minato bristled, but managed to keep his anger in check. "I stand by what I said in there, Junpei. This isn't a game, and you can't treat it like such." He sighed. "Regardless, that's not why I'm here either."

"Then why are you here?" He said with a glare.

"I'm here to apologize."

Junpei's mouth fell open in shock. His shoulders relaxed as he released the tension in his body. "What?"

Minato nodded. "I wanted to apologize for calling you out in front of the rest of the team. You are as much a part of this team as the others, and we need to trust each other. Again, I meant what I said in there, but the way I said it was uncalled for."

Junpei appeared to mull this over for a minute, before giving Minato a begrudging smirk. "Alright, I accept your apology." He stuck his hand out to shake. Minato took it.

"Look," Minato said after a moment, "I think that we both got off on the wrong foot last night, so how's about we start over? I'm Minato Arisato."

Junpei's smirk became a smile. "Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. So," He said as he let go of Minato's hand, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well," Minato said with a sigh, "I think that story is better shared over food. Speaking of which, I'm hungry. You?"

Junpei laughed. "Dude, I can always eat."

Minato joined in. "Alright, nightcap when we get back to the dorm. Deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

Mitsuru had taken Minato's place supporting Yukari when he had gone to speak to Junpei, and was surprised to see the girl was smiling, even injured as she was. Mitsuru could not contain her curiosity anymore and asked, "What are you smiling about, Takeba?"

Yukari looked Mitsuru in the eyes and said, "I don't really know. All I know is that around him…I feel comfortable. Protected. You know?" She shook her head. "I dunno, I'm rambling. It's probably the drugs."

Mitsuru's gut twisted at Yukari's words, and she finally realized what the feeling was.

_I'm jealous? But why? _

The thoughts confused her, and were making her uncomfortable. She quickly banished them from her mind and locked them away in a deep part of her. Personal entanglements were not just dangerous, but inappropriate for someone of her stature.

_Besides, there's no way he would be interested in someone who made his life hell for the past day or so… Even more so if he finds out the truth. _

She looked up when she heard the laugh that had become so familiar over the past couple of days. Somehow, He and Junpei were laughing with each other, animosity forgotten. The scene brought a smile to her face, despite her previous thoughts.

_Well, I guess Akihiko was right. I'll put him in charge of the next expedition. Of course, with Takeba's wounds the way they are, that could be for a while yet. Long enough for us to train him, hopefully._

_._

_._

_._

_(Wow, I was not expecting I would get this chapter out this quickly. This thing practically wrote itself from my brain right onto the screen. Stuff's creepy. Anyways, I hope that you guys liked this chapter as much as I did writing it! Thank you to all who have reviewed so far, and thank you for the follows as well! Inject that stuff directly into my veins, that's how good it feels. As before, please review if you liked it, or if you have any concerns or criticism. I might be able to get the next chapter out in a couple of days, less if I get more of these nice reviews! Anyway, Cheers everyone, and I'll see you on the next chapter! – Dr. Ninja)_

_PS- this is still very much a Minato/Mitsuru story. There's something else going on with Yukari though..._

Edit notes: Again, I hope that this keeps the characters consistent in tone, as well as clears up some minor plot holes I noticed.


	3. April 21st - May 9th

April 21st, 2009

* * *

"Have you heard, Minato-kun?" Yukari asked, breaking Minato out of his thoughts. He glanced at her. Her injuries had been re-bandaged and she had a slight limp still, but she was well enough to come to school.

He shook his head, a grin on his face. "Heard what? Tchaikovsky? Mozart? Lotus Juice? My music taste is both eclectic and robust."

"Har har. No, the rumor for why we have an assembly today."

Again, he shook his head. "Nope. I'll be honest, I don't really keep my ear to the ground that much."

Ok, that was a lie. He did, just not enough to be completely in the know. Who might be dating who and what someone might or might not have said was not really something he cared about. Plus a good portion of the rumor mill was focused on him right now, so it made information collection a bit difficult.

She shook her head in admonishment. "It looks like someone figured out who won Student Council elections. They say that Mitsuru-senpai won by a landslide."

He shrugged. "You know, I'm not really surprised. Mitsuru-san is one of the more popular people in the school, and she has had experience leading before…" When he noticed Yukari was frowning slightly at his words, he switched topics. "So, uh, anyway... You were getting ready to tell me something last night when Mitsuru-san interrupted us. Did you want to tell me now?"

She tilted her head in confusion for a moment, then jumped as she remembered what he was referring to. "Oh! Uh…Not right now." She blushed slightly. "It's kinda…private." At his own blush and look of surprise, her face contorted in rage. "Not like that, you pervert! It's just something I need to tell you!"

At Yukari's outburst, many curious looks turned towards the two friends. Minato buried his face in his palm. Yukari was not always the most subtle person, and her outburst was not unexpected. He supposed he was to blame as well.

_You asked her about something that she was going to say in a moment of vulnerability. Of course it was going to be something private, you dolt._

He sighed in disdain. The rumor mill was going to go nuts with this.

* * *

"…and that concludes the main portion of today's assembly." The announcer said. "Next, we'll hear a word from the Student Council. Please welcome the new President, Mitsuru Kirijo, from Class 3-D."

At the sound of Mitsuru's name, Minato's eyes snapped open as he awoke from his nap. He leaned forward as Mitsuru took the stage.

_Well, looks like Yukari was right. She did win the election. _

A smile crept its way onto his face.

_Good for her. She'll be a great president._

At that, he froze. Since when had he started to care about the team's lives outside of the Dark Hour? A cold pit formed in his stomach.

**You know better than that. They are merely allies for the moment, stepping stones on your path. You cannot get attached to them. Attachments mean vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities mean weaknesses… weaknesses means pain. Pain is something that you know too much about, so let it go. **

With that, he sat back and forced himself to watch her speech with the same disinterest as most of the other students.

"As I begin my term as Student Council President, I'd like to share with you my vision for this coming school year…"

* * *

When the end bell rang, Minato began gathering all his things into his bag without a word to anyone. He had been berating himself constantly since the assembly for forgetting his number one rule: no attachments.

Ever since starting his 'training' all those years ago, his grandfather had schooled him on this rule time and time again. Attachments made during an assignment simply made it easy for said attachments to manipulate you, make you lose focus on the job at hand. He had already found that out the hard way, once.

So instead, he was to be the manipulator, the faceless man. Even as a child, he had been good at finding the type of personality that people would react well to, as well as switching them on the fly, making him an ideal spy. For years, he had used this to end up in the most advantageous position for accomplishing his objectives.

For 8 years, he'd never failed.

Then 2 years ago, he'd made a mistake, one that had haunted him ever since: He'd been himself. In one moment of weakness, he'd had everything he'd built stripped from him. Now, 2 years later, here he was, still making the same mistakes; letting slip details of who he truly was for no reason... caring about the marks and their lives… That was worrying. If even one of them was like _she_ had been… He shook the thought out of his head. He was so close to the end now. He wouldn't let anything or anyone stop him from solving this case, not even SEES.

He finished putting his materials away, walked out of class and began storming down the staircase, hoping to make a clean escape without having to talk to-.

"Hey Minato-senpai!" True to form, Junpei was waiting for him on the second floor. "What's up, man?"

After an admittedly rocky start, the two teens had ended up burying the hatchet the previous night. Over a late night snack, the two of them had jumped from topic to topic, learning each other's likes and dislikes before Minato finally ended up sharing the details about why he was there. Junpei changed his opinion of Minato drastically after that. He had even taken to calling Minato 'Senpai' afterwards, something which had embarrassed the blue haired teen immensely. Despite himself, Minato found that he actually liked Junpei. They had quite a bit in common, and Junpei's natural enthusiasm and energy was… endearing.

The sound of Junpei's voice broke Minato out of his dark thoughts, and a small, tired smile appeared on his face. "Hey Junpei. Not much…and don't call me Senpai, remember? I'm the same age as you."

**Remember, no attachments…**

Junpei just laughed, happy that he had found a crack in Minato's armor. "No can do, buddy. Someone's gotta make sure your head doesn't get too big!"

"Coming from you…" Minato said with a chuckle. "So were you waiting on me for a reason, or…?"

"Yeah!" He replied with an enthusiastic nod. "Akihiko-senpai said that he wanted us to meet him at Paulownia Mall. Something about meeting him at the police station…"

"Wait, Akihiko is in the class right next to mine," Minato said, raising an eyebrow. "Why didn't he come tell me on his way down?"

Junpei shook his head. "I dunno. He looked kinda harried when he was talking to me… always looking over his shoulder and stuff, like he was being followed. When we were finished talking, he ran off like a bat out of hell." A worried look came over his face. "Oh, man, is he in trouble? Is that why he wants to meet at the police station?"

"I don't know…" Minato said as they made their way downstairs. "I think Akihiko would have said something to you if he'd been in that much trouble. Hell, the only problems that guy has are with…" He smirked as the pieces fell into place. "Oh… That makes sense."

"What?" Junpei asked, confused. "What makes sense?"

As they descended to the lobby, a large group of girls came into view. They were the same ones that had been following Akihiko the previous day. Obviously, they had not taken his escape from them well, judging by how agitated they seemed to be. Minato put his head down, trying to appear inconspicuous. "Junpei, whatever happens, I'm not here. Let's go before-"

"Hey, you!" One of the girls cried as she spotted him. "You were the one walking with Aki-kun yesterday!" With that information out in the open, the girls moved to surround him and Junpei. Minato grimaced as he was bombarded with questions.

"Where did Aki-kun go?"

"You're friends, right?"

"Tell us where he went!"

"You'd better tell us, or else!"

He was tempted to tell them where Akihiko actually was just to get them out of his hair, but thought better of it. Akihiko would forgive a lot, but that? He'd probably end up breaking Minato's nose. He sighed. "Honestly, girls, I have no idea. Check the dumpsters."

"Is that where he was hiding yesterday?"

"Oh my god, we have to go save him!"

"Maybe he'll let us wash his clothes for him!"

"Maybe he'll let us wash him instead!"

The girls collectively squealed at the thought and bolted out the door, each one clamoring to be the first one to find him. Minato shook his head in disgust. "I now understand why he'd try anything and _everything_ to try and get away from those harpies."

Junpei gaped open mouthed after them. "All of those girls are looking for Akihiko-senpai? All of 'em?!"

Minato put his hand under Junpei's jaw and closed his mouth as he strode past. "Unfortunately. C'mon, let's head to the mall. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of the hilarity on the way."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the girls had taken his advice literally. He and Junpei spotted them in an alleyway halfway to Paulownia Mall, digging through the dumpsters in the alleyway. The two of them walked past, holding in their laughter until they were well out of earshot. Minato almost felt bad for the girls. Almost…

They hurried over to Paulownia Mall to meet with Akihiko. The mall was decorated opulently, with several fountains and well-kept storefronts. In one of the storefronts, there was a sign over the door that read, 'Police Station'. The two teens quickly went inside.

They found Akihiko talking amiably with the stern-looking policeman standing at the desk. At the sound of the door opening, Akihiko turned and nodded at the two teens. "These are the two I told you about," He said to the officer. "What do you think?"

The officer's stern gaze passed over the two teens. His gaze lingered on Minato for a second, before he closed his eyes in approval. "…All right. I'll take 'em."

Junpei was taken aback. "W-what? But we didn't do anything wrong?"

The officer smirked at Junpei's reaction, and said. "Relax, kid. I just meant that I would take you guys as customers."

"Uh…what?"

Akihiko shook his head in amusement. "This is Officer Kurosawa. He's our…'liaison' in the local police force." That made Minato's eyes widen. They had connections inside the local police? How was that possible?

Kurosawa snorted. "By, "liaison," he really means, "supplier."

"He supplies us with the weapons and armor that we use to fight the Shadows," Akihiko explained before reaching into his back pocket. "Speaking of which… Here, from Ikutsuki-san." He held out two 5000 yen bills.

"Wow!" Junpei said as he snatched the bill and shoved it into his pocket with glee. "Thanks Akihiko-senpai!"

Minato took the bill and looked at it for a moment. "They aren't free, are they?" He said, looking at Akihiko. "The weapons and armor, I mean."

Kurosawa snorted in derision. "Of course not. Nothing in life is free."

"Aw," moaned Junpei, "…and I thought it was just some spending cash…"

Akihiko smiled at Junpei's reaction then turned to leave. "Get whatever you guys like. I'll see you guys at the dorm." As he opened the door, he glanced back over his shoulder. "Oh, and Minato…"

"Yeah?"

"We're training when you get home." Akihiko grinned maliciously. "Don't be late."

Minato groaned.

_Great. Maybe I can get a stay of execution if I tell him what those girls did while looking for him…_

* * *

After the two teens had looked over his inventory and made their purchases, Officer Kurosawa smiled and wished the teens a safe journey home. When they left, he went back into his office and picked up his phone to report in.

The blue haired teen seemed to be integrating with SEES fairly well. Akihiko had nothing but praise for his combat ability, and the new one, Junpei, had seemed to like hanging around with the boy too.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up. "Hello, this is Officer Kurosawa of the Iwatodai Police Department, badge number 8904. I'd like to speak with Master Shirogane please… It's about his grandson."

* * *

"Zio, Polydeuces!" Akihiko exclaimed as he pulled the trigger on his Evoker. His Persona shimmered into view and hurled a bolt of lightning straight at his target. Unfortunately, his target jumped out of the way at the last second. Akihiko's backup plan had been to electrocute the puddles of blood-like water on the roof that the target had been standing in, but the target had apparently taken that into account as well, having jumped onto the patch of dry ground just before the lightning struck the puddle he had been standing in.

Mitsuru's voice rang out through the night as she called her Persona as well. "Penthesilea! Bufu!"

A hail of icy shards flew towards the target, threatening to shred it to pieces. Instead of trying to fruitlessly evade the shards, their target began batting them aside with his weapon, focusing on protecting his eyes and face. Some of the shards connected with the target, opening slight, shallow cuts across his body.

Yukari's Persona soon entered the fray as well. "Io! Garu!"

A furious gust of wind picked up in the area around their target, threatening to bowl him over. He slammed his weapon into the ground, relying on it to keep him grounded in the same place. Just as suddenly, the windstorm stopped as the spell ran out of energy.

With the enemy pinned down, Junpei ran in with his sword, ready to cut down his enemy. He swung down where his target was kneeling, but found his sword buried in the roof instead. His hand instinctively went to his Evoker when he sensed movement behind him, and he rolled when he predicted the thrust to impact with his side.

His sword lay abandoned, stuck in the roof, but his opponent was now off balance. That meant that he had one thing to do to finish this fight. He drew, put the Evoker against his head, and pulled the trigger. "Hermes, Agi!"

His Persona shimmered into existence and threw a fireball, not at the target, but at the sword he'd left buried in the roof. The fireball impacted the hilt of the blade and fanned outward, catching his target with a wash of flame. His target's clothes caught fire from the sudden conflagration, but the target reacted quickly, rolling in one of the puddles to put himself out. He stood up, promising vengeance with his eyes, but Mitsuru's voice rang out through the night. "Stop! This bout is over."

Minato sheathed his rapier, glaring daggers at Junpei. "This uniform was expensive, Junpei. I expect replacements, or the money to buy them."

The uniform wasn't _that_ expensive, but it was a good deflection point to hide the real reason why he was angry. He was angry that he had let his own arrogance control his reaction during that bout, which had lead to him underestimating his opponent, allowing Junpei to get the best of him.

_No excuses. A tactician has a plan for every possibility, and I cannot afford the possibility of failure._

To Junpei's credit, he managed to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Heh… Sorry, Minato. I kinda got a bit carried away."

After he and Junpei had returned to the dorm that evening, Mitsuru and Akihiko had approached him about what his training would actually entail. They both said that Minato's combat mentality and ability were already suited for fighting Shadows, as he had proven to them the previous night. Therefore, physical training was not necessary.

Instead, his training would be focused on dealing with the elemental forces and abilities that the Shadows could bring against them. To accomplish this, they had waited for the Dark Hour and had Yukari and Junpei volunteer their Personas to demonstrate some of the different elemental attacks that they would be facing in Tartarus. After this, they had then sat down as a group to help develop strategies and tactics in order to counter or evade these attacks. Then they had moved up to the roof to put these strategies into practice.

This was the 5th bout that they had done that night. Each time, they had attacked in a specific order in order to gauge the effectiveness of each strategy. This was the first time he had made it to Junpei's stage, so he had not been prepared for the maverick physical attack preceding the elemental one.

Mitsuru smirked at Minato's disheveled appearance. Yukari's windstorms had been the attack he had been having the most trouble with, and so his clothes looked like they had been through a blender before being thrown into a fire. Despite this, his strategies seemed to be sound and he had made good progress already. "Good work, Arisato. A few more sessions like this and I think I can sign off on letting you in as a full member of the team."

Almost on instinct, Minato smiled brightly at Mitsuru's praise. This quickly shuttered into a half frown. Mitsuru noticed this, and frowned herself. He'd been acting strangely all night. Every time he would look pleased or happy at something for even a moment, he'd quickly school his face into a look of disinterest or dissatisfaction.

Before she could say anything, however, Minato yawned in an obvious attempt to hide his discomfort and said, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat."

Yukari stretched and nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, me too."

Pursing her lips for a moment, Mitsuru nodded in agreement. "Alright then, we'll call it a night. Good work everyone."

* * *

April 27th, 2009

* * *

His training had continued every night for a week. By the end, Minato had been able to fight off their attacks almost simultaneously. Mitsuru had even acknowledged that such a situation was extremely unlikely in the field, but was impressed with his ability nonetheless. On the other end of the spectrum, Junpei had enthusiastically told him how cool it had been watching him dodge and parry all the different attacks like some kind of Super Sentai hero.

Minato sighed as he forced the smile he had inadvertently been wearing off of his face. It was becoming really difficult to stay disconnected from the daily lives of his dorm mates, especially since they'd taken to using the time before training to study together. His true personality kept slipping through the façade he tried to keep up, and, worse still, they seemed to respond well to it. It was making things increasingly difficult for him.

_What's so wrong with wanting them to like me for me?_

**If you become attached to them, it will just make it easier for them to betray you.**

_Why would they betray me? They want the same thing I do!_

**You've seen just how far one can go to deceive you. How can you be sure they are not the same? How can you be sure that they are not just using you like **_**she **_**did?**

_Oh, just shut up…_

As he was walking in the gate, he overheard two girls having a quiet conversation, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Did you hear that we're having another assembly today?"

"Huh? What for?"

"I heard that it's cause the principal was really jealous of Kirijo-san's speech last week, and he called this assembly to one-up her!"

"What? That's so dumb! We all have to suffer because of one guy's ego?!"

Minato shook his head as he walked past.

_Hate to break it to you, girls, but that is pretty much par for the course in terms of humanity. _

Throughout helping his grandfather with his different investigations, he had unfortunately seen how many different times this same story happened. Often they had much more dire consequences than an unnecessary school assembly. Everyone looked out for themselves. Anytime they got close to someone else, it was to use them. No one truly cared about each other.

The first bell rang, shaking Minato from his thoughts. He sighed as he hurried to the auditorium to listen to the death throes of one man's ego.

An hour and a half later, Minato was ready to punch the nearest wall.

_Not only did he__** not **__give a better speech than Mitsuru, he practically copied it word for word! I mean, come on, did he really need to give an hour long speech to tell us the exact same thing that Mitsuru did? And I thought that they frowned on plagiarism here… Ugh, I hate people sometimes. No, scratch that, most of the time._

He had glanced at Mitsuru during the speech and saw her dumbstruck look as the Principal had started his obviously plagiarized work. He had thought about seeing how she was dealing with it after the assembly, but decided against it.

_She's a tough one. Hell, she'll probably just walk right into the principal's office and threaten to execute him if he tries something like that again. _

A smile involuntarily broke out on his face at the thought before he caught himself and quashed it immediately.

**Stop that! **

When he finally made it back to the classroom, he noticed that Mitsuru was already in her seat. He moved to sit down in his seat and, at a whim, looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

She was obviously livid, that much he could tell. He'd seen the symptoms up close and personal, after all. At this level of anger, Mitsuru was liable to think of nothing but getting revenge on the one who wronged her. Due to that, she'd probably end up missing half of their lesson and end up even angrier. That thought alone made him worry for his own safety.

During the last week, Junpei had made a thinly-veiled lewd comment about Mitsuru and her Persona, and Minato had accidentally let a chuckle slip out. She had said nothing at the time, but during the next session, the first attack she'd sent at him had been strong enough and angled correctly to hit both him and Junpei, nearly freezing both of them solid. After that moment, it became clear to Minato that she was rather vindictive when she was angry, preferring to dish out punishment herself. Unfortunately, if not given a proper outlet, Mitsuru was liable to take any form of anger management she could, meaning beating him senseless in training.

He did not want her anger to bleed over into his training, especially after that incident with Junpei. At this level of rage, she'd be liable to kill him inadvertently.

_How to fix this… _

He thought of something that might work, but the mere thought of putting it into action sent his mind into a frenzy.

**What are you thinking? This is all kinds of wrong! It will start up the rumor mill to an insane degree and you will never hear the end of it! Not to mention that she will probably think that you are trying to cop a feel and execute you right here and now! **

A multitude of these kinds of thoughts buzzed through his head like a swarm of insects, sending an ever-building wave of anxiety crashing through his system. This continued for what felt like an hour, his thoughts driving him crazy until one thought washed over him, drowning out all the others.

_What's the worst that could happen?_

With that thought ringing throughout his head, he stood up and walked around to her side of the aisle. She stood up and looked at him angrily as he approached.

"What do you need, Arisat-"

She inhaled sharply in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm really sorry, Mitsuru-san," he whispered into her ear.

**What in the hell are you **_**doing**_**?**

Mitsuru turned a brilliant shade of red as every conversation in the room stopped all at once, their classmates awe-struck at the scene taking place. She couldn't breathe, she was so embarrassed. What was he thinking, doing something like this? And in public as well! After a few long, agonizing moments, she finally took a breath as her lungs screamed for air. A scent of something intoxicating filled her head, sending her mind into a frenzy.

_Is this his scent? He smells good… Wait, why am I reacting like this? This is so improper. Is he still holding me? Oh god, everyone can see us! The rumors that will start because of this will be a nightmare! If he doesn't let go immediately, I'll execute him right now, secrecy be damned!_

Before the cacophony of thoughts could cause her to completely lose control, his arms disappeared from around her waist and he asked in his calm, serene voice, "You gonna be ok, Mitsuru-san? I know today has already been trying for you…"

She blinked as she attempted to regain control of her mental acuity. So that was why he did it. To her surprise, it had worked; most of her anger over the speech had disappeared because of his actions.

Unfortunately, it had disappeared mainly under the massive amount of confusion and embarrassment she now felt.

"Uh…Yes, I believe so," She replied after a moment, her cheeks burning red. "Thank you, Arisato. I didn't realize how angry I actually was."

He smirked, sending a small jolt through her body. "Well, considering I could hear your teeth grinding from my seat, it looked like you could use it. Wouldn't want you to miss out on the lesson today, right?" He said as he walked over to his seat.

She nodded, feeling some of her giddiness fade away.

_I see… He was just concerned as a friend. Nothing improper about that. _

Somehow, that thought left her feeling slightly disappointed.

* * *

Minato's heart was beating as fast as a tribal drum as he sat back down. He could feel _everyone's _gaze on him, but somehow, he didn't care. A small voice in the back of his head said, "_See, told ya so." _He didn't have the heart to tell it that he had hugged her out of pure, selfish self-preservation. He had a feeling it would just argue with him, and he really didn't want to deal with that right now.

At lunch, Mitsuru turned to him and said, "Arisato, I appreciate your… concern earlier, and I thank you for it. However, in the future, please consider something less inflammatory and… public to placate me with."

He nodded sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I just…yeah. I dunno, it felt like the right thing to do. I'm sor-"

"No need to apologize," She said with a small smile on her face. "And like I said, I appreciate it. However, it makes what I am about to do much harder to justify."

"Uh... what are you gonna do?"

"I want to make you my deputy on the Student Council."

Minato blinked. "What?"

_Me, Student Council? That's a terrible idea!_

She nodded. "I don't really feel comfortable asking anyone else. Besides, based on recent experience, I feel that I can trust you to make the right decisions in this position."

"Why me?" He asked with a worried look on his face. "Why not Akihiko?"

"Akihiko has his duties as boxing team captain to worry about, not to mention his... troubles communicating effectively with others," She said with a sigh. "That, combined with his tendency to leap before he looks makes him a poor fit. You, on the other hand, have none of these problems."

He shook his head. "I don't know about that…"

She tilted her head. "What are your concerns?"

He looked up at her. "I think that this will cut into the time we have set aside for training."

_Actually, it's because I couldn't__ give a crap about student affairs, not to mention I don't really think that it's a great idea appointing me after last week's debacle._

He had officially joined the Fencing Team the previous week as her new sparring partner, and it was not without controversy. Many had seen the move as favoritism due to the rumors surrounding the two of them. This, combined with his 'unique' form of anger management earlier _and_ this new appointment only meant that those rumors would grow in proportion.

As much as he knew he shouldn't get involved with the others' lives, he couldn't help but feel bad if something that he did negatively affected her life.

This didn't seem to convince her. She shook her head. "It's almost as if you enjoy being thrashed by me during practice! Either way, this won't affect the time you have set aside for training, as I don't need you to go to every activity." She tilted her head and smiled. "I just need someone I can trust in the position, in case of an emergency."

Minato thought that she couldn't have surprised him any more than she had during the conversation, but her last sentence froze him completely in shock.

_She trusts me? She trusts the guy, who, no more than a week ago, she tried to run out of her life?_

His mind immediately came up with a billion different reasons to tell her no, to tell her to find someone else… but as he looked at her, something stopped him. His mouth couldn't form the words to refuse.

Not wouldn't, but _couldn't._

Panic shot through him like a bullet.

**No, no, not again! You cannot let this happen again! **

A voice, separate from the panicked thoughts rolling through his head silenced the vicious thoughts running through his mind.

_It's alright. You are overreacting. It's alright. Just accept it._

No. He shook his head, rejecting that thought. He couldn't. Not again. Not after what happened before. He steeled himself using all the anxiety and anguish built up in his heart, looked up at Mitsuru and said, "I'm sorry. I can't." Her face shuttered in disappointment, causing him to backtrack. "I-I mean, a-at least not right now," he said before he could stop himself. "I'm still trying to keep a balanced workload, you see, and I need to get that sorted out first. You understand, right?"

"Of course," She said, light springing back into her eyes. "I didn't mean to pressure you. I understand how difficult it is, balancing your obligations with school." She gave him a small smile. "When you get things figured out, we'll see about getting you in."

He nodded and turned away, panic still rolling in his belly. He looked down at the lunch he had brought, and suddenly wasn't that hungry.

* * *

May 1st, 2009

* * *

The clock read 3:35.

If Minato had thought that his sleep was bad before Mitsuru's offer, then this was a whole new level of hell. He actually feared falling asleep. His nightmares, renewed by the realization he had made that day a week ago, kept bringing him back to that time 2 years ago.

* * *

_"Minato, huh? That's a much cuter name than Shu."_

_Laughter. You've never felt like this before, with anyone. _

_The case? The secret hour? Who cares? All that matters is how she makes you feel... _

_A punch lands square in your gut. _

_Blackness. _

_The laugh which used to bring you such joy now brings nothing but anguish and white hot rage._

_The match lands on the gas, sending a trail of fire up the driveway. The fire engulfs and consumes her home; burning down what little remained of her life here. _

_It doesn't do anything for the pain._

* * *

He woke with a start. He groaned as he rolled over and looked at the clock.

5:59.

He had slept for barely over 2 hours. He would have laughed if it didn't feel like his heart was going to explode.

He had tried his hardest to remove Haruya Itsoko from his mind over the past 2 years, scouring all trace of her from his life and memory. She had been his only weakness, his only mistake. The only one he had let close, and she had betrayed him in a way that most others couldn't or didn't even know.

A few weeks with a certain redhead, and all those memories came roaring back. Dark fury and hot, roiling anger at himself and Haruya burned through him as he sat there, looking out the window at the risen sun.

**How are you, I wonder? Have you and Daddy dearest found another poor sap to kidnap and suck dry? If you have, I hope you at least killed him afterwards, that way he wouldn't have deal with this shattered, broken imitation of life you left me… **

**God knows **_**I**_** wish you had.**

* * *

He had ended up barely paying attention in class that day due to his exhaustion, and had headed out as soon as the final bell rang. On his way out, however, Yukari and Junpei walked up beside him.

"Hey, Minato-senpai! What're you up to?" Junpei said, greeting him with a wave. He sighed. Junpei's enthusiastic voice, once endearing, was becoming grating to his ears. As they walked down the stairs, Junpei leaned in, concern etched on his face. "Whoa, are you sleeping ok, dude? Those are some killer bags under your eyes."

Minato's unenthusiastic reply was immediate. "No, I'm not sleeping ok. I got a lot on my mind."

Junpei patted Minato on the back companionably. "It's ok, dude. I'm sure it'll work itself out." A grin shot onto his face. "Hey, I know what. Why don't you join me and Yuka-tan? We're going to the hospital to drop something off for Akihiko-senpai."

Minato raised an eyebrow. Why was Akihiko in the hospital? He hadn't talked too much with his dorm mates recently, preferring to interact with them as little as possible right now, so he was out of the loop. He asked Junpei, who simply shrugged and said, "It's just a checkup. Don't worry about it. So, what do you say? Wanna join us?"

He looked at Yukari, who gave him an enthusiastic smile. He felt a little of his dark mood lift, and he nodded his agreement.

_What the hell… I was just gonna head back and try to catch up on sleep anyways. This way, I can actually do something productive for the first time in two weeks._

Junpei chuckled as he took the lead, Yukari and Minato following close behind.

* * *

The group of teens walked through the hospital until they found the room the receptionist had said Akihiko was in, and stepped inside. Akihiko was nowhere to be found, but a stern-looking teen in a black beanie and a red trench coat was sitting in the corner, glaring at them.

"Um, is Akihiko-senpai…?" Junpei trailed off as the stranger's glare intensified. He swallowed and continued. "…I-in this room? By any chance?"

"Now he is," Akihiko said as he walked in behind them. He regarded Yukari and Minato with a surprised look. "What are all of you guys doing here?"

Yukari spoke up brightly. "We came to see you!"

The stranger in the corner stood up. "Is that it, Aki?" he said in a gruff voice.

Akihiko nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

The stranger grumbled, "I don't have time for this shit…" as he brushed past Minato as he walked out the door and out into the hall. Junpei stared out the door after him.

"Who was that?"

"A friend from school…sort of." Akihiko answered with a wave of his hand. "You know how the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has been increasing lately?"

Junpei and Yukari nodded as Minato looked on in puzzlement.

_They've been increasing? Shit, I hadn't noticed. I really need to get my shit together…_

"Well, Shinji knows a few people who have been suffering from it. I was asking him about it." He looked at Junpei, and said, "Hey, did you bring what I asked?"

Junpei smirked as he reached into his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Of course!"

"And the other thing?" Akihiko said expectantly.

"Oh, yeah!" He reached into the bag again and dug out a squeeze grip, then handed it to Akihiko.

Akihiko's eyes lit up as he squeezed and it creaked. "Alright!"

Yukari's face grew concerned. "Senpai, is it all right for you to be training again?"

He snorted derisively. "Yeah, but only with small things like this. I've wasted enough time already as is." He smiled. "Thanks for coming to check up on me, all of you. Now, I've got a few more things to do on the docket today, so I'll see you guys later. I'll be back at the dorm before the Dark Hour hits though, so don't worry about me."

With that, he ushered them all out of the room. On their way back to the dorm, Minato thought back on the info he'd just acquired.

_Apathy Syndrome cases are on the rise, huh? I wonder why that is? And what was up with that paper that Akihiko wanted? _

Before he went to bed that night, he looked up all he could in the recent news about the Apathy Syndrome cases. Focusing on the case gave him a slight reprieve from the nightmares that had been plaguing him for the past 2 weeks. It was sad what was happening to the people in Iwatodai, but Minato was just happy that they could give him a good night's sleep for once.

* * *

_The expanse was as welcoming as it had been the last time he had been here._

"_Hello there," Pharos greeted with a smile. "How have you been?" _

_Minato groaned. "Terrible. Sleep's been hard to come by; as I'm sure you've been aware."_

_"Yes, I haven't gotten many opportunities to speak with you recently." With that, Pharos looked at him with concern. "You have an ordeal coming."_

_Minato raised an eyebrow questioningly. "An ordeal?"_

_Pharos nodded. "Every full moon, one of these will take place. It will be extremely dangerous."_

_"When has anything I've done recently not been dangerous?" He replied sarcastically._

_"I'm serious," Pharos said with a frown. "If you aren't careful, your end could come."_

_Minato sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll keep it in mind." _

"_Good," Pharos said, grinning in satisfaction. After a moment though, his grin became a frown. "I hope you can sort your mind out soon. It gets rather stormy in here sometimes."_

_"Are you saying I'm crazy?" He said with a smirk._

_Pharos laughed. "You're talking to me, aren't you?" _

_The boy's laugh faded away as his grasp on this world slipped away._

* * *

Pharos's words were troubling, but he took them with a grain of salt. This was a boy he talked to in his dreams, after all. Even with all the crazy things Minato had seen so far, this was not something he was simply going to take on faith alone.

_Your trust issues strike again, I see…_

* * *

May 9th, 2009

* * *

Seeing that burying himself in work helped silence his anxieties, Minato had finally decided to start looking into the Kirijo Group's history. After looking through old news reports concerning them for the past week, he finally came across an interesting connection; 10 years ago, on the day of his parents' death, an explosion was reported in a lab owned by the Kirijo Group. No one knew what caused it, what the laboratory had been experimenting on, or even where the lab had been, but the date was the important part.

**It can't be a coincidence…**

He was attempting to find out more when the power on his laptop went out suddenly. He looked around, confused for a moment before realizing it was the Dark Hour. He cursed under his breath at the interruption, and jumped on his bed, upset that his quest for answers had been disrupted.

His anger had become more and more pronounced as the days had dragged on. All his usual outlets didn't work. Even training didn't have its usual calming effect anymore. He certainly didn't want to talk to anyone about it, mostly because he was afraid he would explode and say something he'd regret. He also didn't know who would tip the Kirijo Group off if he told anyone that he knew about their dirty laundry, so he was alone in this. He groaned anxiously as he got up and started to pace the room.

If he didn't find a way to let loose some of this anger soon, he was going to break something.

* * *

Yukari's injuries had finally healed enough for them to consider going to Tartarus again over a week ago, but the time had never been right to go. Or, so it had seemed. Mitsuru had asked the team if they had wanted to train, but Minato had always said that he was busy with school.

If this kept up, eventually they'd have to start going without him.

She was getting worried about him. Ever since she had asked him to join the Student Council, he had barely spoken to her… or anyone else for that matter. She had thought that he was just busy like he said, but she'd gotten reports that he had stopped doing all of his after school activities too, even skipping most of the Fencing Club meetings. He looked sicker and sicker as the days went on, and hardly joined the dorm dinners anymore. It was getting to the point where she was seriously considering sitting him down and forcing him to tell her what was wrong.

She sighed. He had (unfortunately) never been far from her thoughts recently. His unexpected hug a few weeks ago had left a bigger impression on her than she'd initially thought, and, thinking back on the incident, she found herself thinking about him less as a subordinate and more as a friend.

She shook her head. She needed to be vigilant. Even if they didn't go to Tartarus, the Shadows could still attack, like they had a month ago. She placed her hand on the amplifier again and focused her Persona's sight. Using Penthesilea this way was tiring, as her Persona was more combat focused. It required extra concentration in order to sense the Shadows, even in Tartarus, where her abilities were far more condensed.

All of a sudden, she felt a huge tug at the corner of her mind. She'd found a Shadow, a massively powerful one, and it was outside of Tartarus! She quickly followed the reading, placing its location at… the monorail. Apparently, it was on a train.

She smiled grimly.

_Well, Arisato, this is going to be your first outing as leader. I hope you'll make me proud._

* * *

An alarm sounded throughout the dorm, causing Minato to jump. He bolted out his door and ran upstairs to the Command room. Mitsuru was already there, hands flying over the command console's keyboard as she sent off a contact report to Ikutsuki. He grimaced. He hadn't wanted to see her yet. He quickly schooled his features into a mask of curiosity and surprise. "Where's the fire?"

Mitsuru turned to him with an intense look, sending a wave of anxiety crashing through him. "There's a massive Shadow outside of Tartarus, and we need to take care of it, fast."

He shook his head, confused. "Why is it outside of Tartarus?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that we need to destroy it quickly, before it can cause too much damage."

At that moment, Akihiko, Yukari, and Junpei all walked in together. Akihiko smirked. "Alright, I've been aching for some action."

"Not today, Akihiko," Mitsuru replied with a shake of her head. "I need you here, coordinating with Ikutsuki-san at Kirijo HQ. Tell him that SEES is on our way to eradicate the intruders and that we need emergency services on standby."

Akihiko frowned, but nodded in acknowledgement. "Ok, got it." He quickly took the other seat at the command console, causing her to look to Minato. "Since Akihiko is staying here, and I'm on support duty, I'm appointing you leader."

His gut fell. "What?" He asked incredulously. "Me, leader?"

Junpei nodded in agreement. "That seems like a good idea, Senpai." He grinned at Minato. "I got your back, dude!"

"Well," Yukari said with a smile, "So much for not being good enough, huh?"

Minato felt a cold anger rise up in his throat. Their praise and trust wasn't reassuring him. If anything, it was making him angrier.

**Why in the hell are you guys so confident in me? Don't you understand that you mean nothing to me? What reason have I given you that makes you so goddamned loyal?! **

He screwed his face into a fake smile and nodded. "…I'll try not to let you down, Mitsuru-san."

"All right then," She said with a determined nod, "Head to the train station. I'll meet you all there."

* * *

Minato was pacing up and down the stairs to the train platform restlessly. Mitsuru had not shown up yet, and the other two were staring at his relentless pace. It was strange. He could _feel_ their wariness around him increase with each passing second. The more uncomfortable they became with him, the better and calmer he felt.

All of a sudden, he looked up at them and barked, "What!?" They jumped at the sudden, harsh sound and he felt another wave of relief pass over him. It was strangely satisfying.

Minato was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a motorcycle racing through the empty streets toward them. His face twisted into a humorless smirk. He had an idea of just who it was on that bike. So she had a bike that functioned during the Dark Hour. That all but confirmed that her and her family had some idea of what made the Dark Hour work if they could combat its effects.

The sound of the motorcycle grew louder and louder until it roared around the corner to a halt at the bottom of the steps. Mitsuru yanked off her helmet and smiled at the group for a moment before frowning at the uneasy air that had settled over the group. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Minato replied curtly. "What are we doing here, exactly?"

Minato's curt reply took her off guard. She had felt his anger before, but this felt…different. She felt her worry about him come back tenfold. If he were emotionally compromised...

She pushed the concern away. She trusted him enough to not let it interfere with the mission. It was something they could deal with after the operation was complete.

"Well, I can feel that the Shadow is on the Number 7 train, farther along the tracks," She said matter of factly. "You'll have to walk along the tracks, board the train, and destroy the Shadow, all before the Dark Hour ends."

"Understood," Minato said with a nod. He turned to the others. "All right, let's go."

He bounded up the stairs to the tracks, two by two. The other two teens hesitated for a second, then quickly followed.

* * *

When they were about half way along the tracks towards their destination, the silence and tension started getting to Junpei. He started making silly noises, trying to lighten the mood a little.

It took Minato all of 30 seconds to round on him in anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Junpei jumped, surprised at his sudden anger. "…Uh, just trying to lighten the mood?"

"We are heading into a situation in which all of us could die," Minato fumed, "And you're trying to goof off in an ill-fated attempt to lighten the mood? Do you even realize how dangerous this is?"

"Of course I do!" He replied with conviction, "But-"

"Then act like it, goddamn it!" Minato yelled, his voice exploding on the calm night like a bomb. Everything was still for a moment before Minato turned away without a word and started walking again.

Yukari stared after Minato, eyes wide. He had been acting weird for the past month, but this? This was a whole new level of crazy. He had never raised his voice to anyone before, not even when he had been angry with Junpei in Tartarus. For him to lose his temper at a harmless attempt at lightening the mood? Something had to be seriously wrong.

Junpei was filled with a cold rage at Minato. He had only been trying to help defuse the tension that _he_ had built up, and their 'leader' had bitten his head off, just like before. It was like he had gone bug-nuts crazy in the past month. It would explain why he hardly talked to any of them anymore, and why he spent all his time shuttered up his room. He shook his head in confusion.

What the hell was going on with him?

* * *

They found the train after a few more minutes of walking and called it in to Mitsuru. "We're here," Minato said curtly.

"_Very well. Commence the operation," _Mitsuru transmitted to them. They quickly climbed up the side of the train and into the open doors. As Yukari set foot in the train however, the doors slammed shut behind her. Minato quickly ran to the doors and attempted to force them back open, but was staggered as the train suddenly began to move.

**What the hell? They can do that? **

Junpei attempted the same thing with the doors on the opposite side. "Shit, they won't budge!"

"_What's happening?" _Mitsuru asked, her panic no doubt due to the sudden change in position. "_What's going on over there?"_

"The damn thing turned the train on and shut the doors!" Minato replied, a grimace on his face. "We're trapped!"

A moment passed before Mitsuru replied. "_Based on the rate of acceleration, you'll hit the train in front of you in 8 minutes. You need to stop the Shadow before then."_

Junpei's face twisted in fear. "8 minutes?" He quickly ran forward, busting through the door to the next car. "Then we don't have any time to lose!"

Minato's face contorted with rage as Junpei ran off.

**Where the hell is he going!? He needs to stay with the group! **

"Let's go, Yukari!" He yelled as he ran after him. "We need to stop that idiot before he gets us all killed!"

* * *

"Maragi!" Junpei yelled as he pulled the trigger on his Evoker. Hermes shimmered into existence and burned through the 3 Shadows in front of him like they were made of flash paper. Junpei smiled. He was cutting through these Shadows like a knife through butter. That practice they'd done a few weeks ago felt like it had made it easier on him to summon Hermes, meaning he could just burn his way through all these weaklings.

He wasn't sure how much time was left, but he knew that he was getting close to the front of the train. He could hear the sounds of battle behind him, letting him know that Yukari and their 'leader' were still alive. He wasn't sure what Minato would do when he caught up, and, to be honest, he didn't really care. He was through giving that bastard the benefit of the doubt.

He ran through the next door on the train and came face to face with a massive Shadow. It had a red mask attached to a strangely feminine body, covered in black and white cloth. It had used the cloth to plaster itself to the walls, creating a barrier between him and the door to the train's control room. He smirked grimly as he placed the Evoker to his temple.

"Well, here goes nothing. Hermes, Agi!"

His Persona appeared as ordered and stretched out its hand, sending a blast of fire towards the Shadow. As if in response, a cold wind blew through the carriage and a huge block of ice erected itself between the fire and the Shadow. The fire exploded harmlessly against the ice, barely melting the surface layer of the thick block. Junpei's eyes widened.

_Ice strong enough to resist Fire? Oh, crap… _

The ice wall tilted as it sharpened itself into a spike. A cold sweat went down his back. There wasn't any room to dodge something that size. His heart hammered in his chest. Was he going to die here?

The ice spear suddenly flung itself towards him, almost faster than he could see. He flinched instinctively.

"Garu!" A sharp blast of wind blew past him, knocking the ice wildly off course. It flew out the window next to Junpei's head, covering him with shattered glass. He whirled around to see Minato and Yukari rush into the car, dripping with Shadow gore.

Minato ran past him without a word, his rapier extended. The Shadow attempted to send smaller shards of ice to impede his progress, but he batted them away with practiced precision. When that failed to stop him, the Shadow sent the cloth coverings on the walls at him like a thousand snakes, all intending to snatch the same prey. They wrapped around his arms and legs and threw him back across the carriage, sending him tumbling to the floor. "Minato-kun, are you ok?" Yukari asked worriedly.

Without a word, he got up, shook himself off, then turned to Junpei. "I need you to set that cloth on fire when I say when, got it?"

His voice came out with anger so fierce, Junpei flinched reflexively. "But the ice, it will-"

Minato turned to Yukari, cutting off his complaint. "Yukari, when that thing sends ice shards to attack me again, blow them away with wind. Don't worry about hurting me. I just need to get close."

He set off running again, not even waiting for their response. The Shadow attempted to impale him with various ice shards again, but these ones were blown every which way by Yukari's Garu. As the cloth attempted to grab onto Minato again, a ball of fire was sent hurtling past Minato, exploding in mid-air. The cloth caught fire, causing each piece to recoil and writhe in pain, clearing a path for Minato.

Junpei almost didn't believe what he saw next.

Minato jumped and threw his rapier through the coiled mess of burning cloth, straight at the mask of the Shadow. It sank straight into the middle of the mask with a satisfying thump. The burning cloth stopped moving, as if in shock. Minato then ran forward, grasped the hilt of his rapier, yanked it out of the mask, and then thrust it straight back in. He repeated the process several times, savagely stabbing and cutting the Shadow in his way.

Junpei had seen the video of Minato's Persona a few weeks ago. He was unpleasantly reminded of that time as he watched Minato continue to savage the Shadow. He turned to Yukari, who had a similar look of shock on her face. Her thoughts mirrored his own.

_Is this his true nature?_

* * *

Minato felt a wave of relief wipe away the anxieties and fears of the past weeks with each stab into the Shadow's disgusting head. It was cathartic.

**Yes, yes! This is what you've been missing! A good fight to invigorate the blood and restore the soul! Nothing else satisfies like the deaths of your enemies! **

When the Shadow's body finally melted away, he screamed in joy at the top of his lungs. He had won.

He spun around with a smile on his face. Junpei and Yukari were staring at him, fear in their eyes. He smirked, not bothered in the slightest. "C'mon," He said with a wave, "We have a train to stop."

* * *

As the train came to a halt, Junpei exhaled the breath he had been holding. It had been closer than he would have preferred. They had barely managed to stop the train in time, having fiddled around with the controls before finally finding the brakes and slowing the train down to a halt. With danger averted, he quickly rounded on Minato.

Whatever was going on with him worried Junpei. He had been pissed earlier, but after seeing what Minato had done to the Shadow, he worried about his state of mind. His behavior made no sense. "Hey, what the hell is going on with you?"

Minato looked at him as if he were speaking German. "Nothing. Why?"

Junpei groaned in frustration. "It's obviously not 'nothing'! Minato, what you did back there-"

"-saved our lives!" Minato yelled, cutting him off. "Don't question me, Junpei! If you hadn't run off, we could have made it there much sooner, and maybe it wouldn't have ended up being so close!"

Junpei's face contorted in rage. "Why, you-"

"Enough!" Yukari yelled, standing between them. She turned to Minato. "Junpei's right. What you did to that Shadow back there was not like you. Blowing up back there on the tracks was not like you. Nothing you've done for the past month has been like you!"

"What in the hell would you guys know about me? You don't know anything about me." He smirked humorlessly. "See, here's an example; both of you are so concerned right now because you think that you're my friends." He shook his head. "You're _not._ In fact, I couldn't have cared less if one of you had died on this train tonight. You know why?" He looked Yukari straight in the eyes. "Because I don't give a shit about any of you."

Yukari recoiled away from him as if she had been hit physically. Junpei's eyes flashed with hurt as he registered what Minato had said. The two of them looked at each other for a moment then wordlessly began walking back through the train.

As the two teens walked away from him, Minato felt a small twinge of regret in his stomach. He quickly quashed it.

**It's better this way. Now they know **_**exactly**_** what they mean to you.**

_Then why does it hurt watching them leave?_

* * *

Mitsuru smirked as Yukari reported that the train had been stopped and that they had no injuries. As the two teens walked down the steps a few minutes later, however, she noticed the absence of the bluenette leader. Her face twisted with concern. "Where is Arisato?"

"Who the fuck cares?" Junpei bit out angrily. "I certainly don't…"

She was taken aback by his vehemence. Minato and Junpei had seemed close for a time. What had happened up there to have changed his attitude so quickly? She turned to Yukari for answers. "What happened, Takeba?"

Yukari turned to Mitsuru, and her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Something… is wrong with him, Senpai. Very, very wrong."

Mitsuru gaped in horror. Yukari had bonded with Minato the fastest out of all of them, the experience they shared on the roof of the dorm giving them a kind of kinship. Apparently that had all changed in the past month. Whatever had happened to Minato had severely altered his personality, and it frightened her. She nodded at the two distraught teens. "Head on back to the dorm. I'll talk with him."

Junpei scoffed. "Good luck. I don't think it'll make much difference."

The two of them walked away in silence, somehow less confident than they had been going in to the operation.

Mitsuru set herself up mentally. If Minato was distraught enough about something that it would cause him to lose two friends, then it was going to be a fight to try and bring him back.

* * *

Minato finally made it back to the entrance to the train station. Any relief he had gotten from his defeat of the Shadow had long passed, and he only had his anger to keep him company.

**How dare they assume that they know anything about me? They know nothing of the pain I have gone through. **

As he walked down the stairs, he saw Mitsuru leaned up against her bike, glaring up at him. He smirked at the prospect of another fight.

"I assume the two of them told you everything?" He said, a mocking tone in his voice.

"No," she said with a shake of her head, "I wanted to hear it from you."

"Why?" He asked before shrugging. "Eh, not like it matters. No, I'm not going to tell you."

She shook her head in complete disbelief. "What's happened to you? A month ago, you just shut down. You've cut us completely out of your life, and you seem to be in pain." A small, sad smile appeared on her face. "We are a team, Arisato. We just want to help you."

Minato's gut twisted when he saw her smile, and rage, hotter and fiercer than even what the Shadow had elicited burned through his veins. A memory of Haruya's face, smiling at him just like that, burned like a brand in his mind.

"Help me?!" He exploded. "How could _you_ possibly help _me_?! Do you even know what it is to go through life without having a single person you can trust, to let close?! How can you? You've never had to work hard for anything in your life! You've never felt what true pain feels like!"

His words felt like a knife in the gut. She staggered backwards, but quickly recovered, anger blazing in her eyes. "You don't know anything about me! Don't assume such things without any evidence!"

He smirked humorlessly. "Well, you'd know all about that, huh?" At her confused look, his smiled turned predatory. "What happened in that lab owned by your family 10 years ago, Kirijo? No evidence that anything happened there either." He gestured around him. "Doesn't mean it didn't-."

She slapped him.

The blow snapped his head to the side, his eyes seeing stars. After a moment, he straightened up, looking her straight in the eyes. Her eyes held anger so vast and so deep, it nearly matched his own. She leaned in close, her voice a deadly whisper. "If you mention this to _anyone_, I will make sure that you are on the next train out of here so fast, you won't even know what happened." She pulled back, her body rigid with barely contained fury. "Am I understood?"

He nodded, fury blazing in his stomach. "Understood. We done?"

"…Yes. We're done." Her gaze became softer, the hurt at what he'd done shining through the rage. "You're suspended from all field operations until I say otherwise."

He nodded wordlessly and started walking towards the dorm, his hand reaching up to touch his injured cheek.

**They finally understand.**

* * *

Mitsuru watched him go, shock, hurt, and a million other emotions rolling through her body. Somehow, he had come close to a truth that she hoped would never be revealed. How he had found out, she didn't know.

There were many things she didn't know about him, she realized.

However, she had solved one mystery about Minato Arisato tonight.

He was _dangerous_.

.

.

.

(Wow, this was a pain to write. Literally painful. I hope that this still continues to impress you guys. Things are still changing due to the choice not to take the contract, and it gets hard to keep it all in my head sometimes. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review if you like this story, or if you have anything you want to criticize. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and thank you to all of you readers out there! You guys keep me writing. – Dr. Ninja)

EDIT: This is the first half of the original chapter 3.

EDIT 2: Goddamn that was just as hard to rewrite. Again, I hope this makes Minato's character more consistent in tone throughout.


	4. May 24th - June 8th

May 24th, 2009

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the train operation.

SEES' morale was at an all-time low.

Junpei had been uncharacteristically downbeat, his trademark enthusiasm nowhere to be seen. When exams had come up, he had been restless and unable to study. His already short temper seemed to get even shorter, and had been in a few shouting matches with other students.

Yukari seemed to be scatterbrained, with her attention never in the right places when she needed it. During exams, this ended up being a problem. She almost hadn't finished them in time. She rarely smiled, and laughter was even rarer.

Mitsuru was angry all the time. She was icier than usual during all the different activities that she did, and she refused to even look at Minato, even during class. People were noticing and starting to talk, creating rumors which only seemed to fuel her anger. No one in the dorm dared agitate her, not even Akihiko.

Minato had essentially become a ghost to the dorm. The only time anyone saw him outside of class was when he came down to snatch some food to take up to his room. His mood had barely changed, and he refused to speak to anyone. Granted, not many had tried. Only Akihiko had been trying to reach the teen, to no avail.

Akihiko had been filled in on what had happened during the operation by Mitsuru a day after the operation. What Minato had done had hurt _all_ of them, even if the fool didn't see it. He had quickly ingratiated himself as a part of the team, and his pain was affecting all of them. He shook his head in regret as he watched Minato on his security camera feed.

The teen hadn't gotten any sleep in the past two days. He raged at nearly every little thing that annoyed him. He barely ate. He was self-destructing.

Memories of Shinjiro after the incident washed through his head, and tears threatened to spill. Their situations were remarkably similar. The only difference was, they had known what had caused Shinji's meltdown. They had no idea what had set Minato off, and even less of an idea of how to help. He clenched his fists angrily. Minato was a good guy, despite what he had said during the op, and Akihiko was gonna be damned if he lost another friend like he'd lost Shinji. If only there was something he could do…

He slammed his fists on the console in frustration. He hated feeling powerless to help. It was infuriating!

After a few minutes, he calmed down and glanced at the pages set up in front of him. Class rosters for class 2-E from the past couple of weeks were scattered on the desk.

A rumor had been floating around for around a month now about a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi. She was an honor student that was apparently being bullied. She also, according to Ikutsuki, had the potential for Persona. That meant that she was a high priority recruit. The only problem was no one seemed to know where she was.

He sighed and stood up to head to bed. He couldn't help Minato right now, but he could try and help this girl. Maybe Junpei and Yukari would know something…

* * *

June 6th, 2009.

* * *

He was going crazy. He'd finally taken that final step over the edge. He knew that had to be it. It was the only explanation he could think of for his current predicament.

After the train operation, he'd thrown himself into his research. If Mitsuru had been that upset about that information, it had to be important. Unfortunately, any information in the public record about the laboratory was gone, as if it had been redacted. As a result, he'd called in every contact he had who might know something to try and find out what the Kirijo Group had been up to 10 years ago, but he'd gotten nowhere.

Normally, that would have pissed him off. It should have pissed him off.

The only problem was, he couldn't seem to care.

His burning anger a month ago had progressively dulled into a low flame buried in the pit of his stomach until it had burned out completely a few days ago. In the anger's place, there was a hole where his feelings should have been. He should have been bothered by that. In reality, he couldn't seem to care less that they were missing. Besides, it was better that way.

**No one gets hurt if no one cares about you, after all.**

It was alright. It didn't matter what finding the truth of the Dark Hour would reveal. Once he found it, he was leaving, for good this time. No one would miss him, after all. He'd made sure of that a month ago. Somehow, the thought made him feel slightly more at ease.

His stomach grumbled painfully, shaking him from his thoughts. He glanced at the clock. 9:46. He'd skipped dinner… again. He sighed and headed downstairs. Maybe Akihiko had left him some leftovers again. When he got to the bottom floor, however, he saw Yukari and Junpei whispering conspiratorially at the entrance.

He stood out of sight and watched them. They were in the middle of an intense conversation. Sadly, he was too far to pick up any of it. Yukari nodded towards the door, an exasperated look on her face. Junpei shook his head in disagreement. She sighed and walked out, intent on leaving him behind. Junpei jumped in surprise, then after a second, ran after her.

He pursed his lips, a small pang of curiosity hitting him. What were they up to? It was almost curfew. If they got caught out after curfew, Mitsuru would execute them herself. Whatever it was they were doing, it would have to be important to risk that kind of fate. Intrigued, he debated going after them. After all, it wasn't like his research was going anywhere right now. After a moment, he shrugged, planted his feet and followed them out into the night.

* * *

He'd managed to find and catch up to the two teens rather quickly, their loud, spirited debate having continued well after they'd left the dorm. He followed them at a respectable distance for a few minutes until they walked off the road and began walking towards the back end of the train terminal, heading for the lone alleyway at the back of the station. He frowned. Rumor had it that alleyway was a gathering place of sorts for delinquents and criminals.

**What in the hell are they doing?**

He crept up to the entrance, peeking around the corner. The two of them entered into a conversation with a group of older teens, evidently asking them about something. He crept closer, trying to overhear what they were talking about.

Before he could get any closer however, Yukari's body language suddenly turned hostile. She turned to Junpei and said something about scum to him, apparently in reference to them. At that, the group of delinquents started to surround them. Suddenly, one of the toughs punched Junpei right in the stomach, causing him to buckle to his knees. The scene made Minato wince. A flash of anger rushed through him, surprising him with its intensity.

**Idiots, what were they thinking? These guys could kill them!**

He quickly analyzed the situation and made a battle plan. A cruel, humorless smirk formed on his face.

**Only thing a bunch of hyenas like this understand is power. Time to show 'em what happens when you mess with a lion.**

He stepped out into the alleyway, clapping his hands as loud as he could. Everyone's attention switched to him. "Congrats," He called disdainfully to the older teen, "You sucker punched a high school kid. Guess that makes you a real tough guy, huh?"

"Another one?" The tough who had hit Junpei exclaimed. He appraised Minato for a moment, then turned to his companions. "Guess the rats just wanna come and play today, huh, guys?!"

A shriek of laughter came from the older girls to Yukari's side. Minato took the moment to look the guy over. He had an ugly double piercing connected by a chain. One of the loops was in the side of his right nostril, and the other was in his bottom lip. He smirked. "Wow, that's pretty smart," he said, pointing to the piercing. "You chained your nose to your face so you wouldn't lose it."

The girls behind Yukari shrieked even harder at that, causing the tough to purple with rage. He rushed Minato, hoping to body slam him against the wall. Instead, Minato dodged to the side, then reached out and grabbed the chain on the guy's face.

"Ah!" The punk screamed, his hands grasping at his face protectively as Minato pulled. "Ah! Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!"

"Uh uh," Minato said with a wag of his finger, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

The punk turned to Junpei as much as his face would allow. "Ok, I'm sorry for hitting you! I'm sorry!" He turned back to Minato. "There! I did what you wanted, now let me go! Please!"

Minato put his hand under his jaw, thinking about it for a moment. His smirk turned cruel. "Nah."

He yanked as hard as he could, pulling both piercings out simultaneously. The tough collapsed on the ground and curled up into a ball, screaming and clutching his face. Minato dangled the chain in his hand as he looked around at all the other toughs in the alley, presenting his trophy for everyone to see. They all stared in fear.

"Anyone else want to mess with them?" Minato asked loudly, his cruel smirk still on his face. "I can promise that I won't be as gentle next time."

Everyone in the alley scrambled away, obviously wanting nothing to do with this psychopath. With the threat passed, Minato reached down and put the chain down next to its still-screaming owner. "Might want to get that checked," He said over the screaming. "You could get an infection."

He turned around to see Junpei staring wide-eyed at him and Yukari glancing at him warily, averting her eyes. He nodded at them, his face settling back into a neutral expression. "See you guys back at the dorm." With that, he walked out of the alleyway and back towards the dorm.

**Idiots. Well, if they want to try and get themselves killed, that's their business. I don't really care.**

_If you don't care, why did you step in when they were in danger?_

* * *

Yukari followed Junpei back into the dorm. She'd made a real mess of things tonight. She had gone back there intending to ask about Fuuka's disappearance, hoping that someone back there had heard something. When she started talking to the toughs though, a surge of anger went through her at their attitude, and she could not control her tongue. The toughs had taken offense at that, and surrounded them. She'd thought that was it; she was going to end up beaten to death in that alley.

That was when things got weird. Minato, of all people, had shown up. He'd, for some reason, taunted Junpei's assailant and, in one move, ripped out the guy's piercings and scared everyone else in the alley off. The look in his eyes when he'd been displaying his trophy… It was terrifying. Worse, he seemed to enjoy the fear that they had regarded him with. Still, he'd stepped in to save them. He'd said his first words to them since the train tonight. Maybe he was finally coming out of his shell.

She didn't know if that was a good thing.

As they walked in a few minutes later, they saw Minato sitting at the table, waiting patiently with a vacant expression on his face. Junpei took one look at him, snorted in derision, and headed upstairs, presumably to go to sleep.

Yukari, on the other hand, walked into the dining room and sat down in the opposite chair. The two of them stared at each other patiently, each waiting for the other one to start. He finally spoke after a few tense moments, his voice devoid of emotion. "What exactly were you guys doing out there?"

Yukari shrugged. "We were investigating the disappearance of a girl from our school. I thought they might know something."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you investigating? Why not leave it to the police?"

She shook her head. "She has the potential."

"Ok," He said with a nod. "What did you find out?"

"That's it?!" She exploded. She stood up, angrily slamming her hands on the table. "You treat us all like crap for a month, then just expect me to answer your questions out of the blue when we both know you don't give a shit about what's happening? Why in the hell should I tell you anything?"

He stood up as well. She squared her shoulders, preparing for a shouting match. After staring at her for a moment however, he bowed respectfully. "I apologize for my behavior the other day."

Her eyes widened in surprise before she snorted in derision. "That's not what I have a problem with, Minato-kun." She shook her head as she slumped down into her chair. "Never mind, it doesn't matter… We found out that Fuuka hasn't been home in 10 days."

He sat back down, his expression unchanged. "That's odd. Shouldn't the school or her parents have reported that?"

"Yes, they should have," She said worriedly. She sighed as she stood up. "I'm going to report to Mitsuru-senpai. Hopefully she knows what to do next."

He nodded. "Wise. Her connections will certainly come in handy for your investigation."

With that, he stood up as well and began walking up the stairs back to his room. She stared after him, sadness in her eyes.

_What happened to you, Minato-kun?_

* * *

June 8th, 2009

* * *

The report she'd received from Yukari troubled Mitsuru. The school should have reported that Fuuka had gone missing well before now. She'd made arrangements to speak to the bully Yukari had mentioned, a Natsuki Moriyama, and the girl's homeroom teacher, Mr. Ekoda, later that day. They were going to get to the bottom of this right now.

She turned her thoughts towards the other event that Yukari had reported. Apparently, Minato had followed them on their excursion and saved them from being roughed up by a bunch of punks. Yukari had said that his attitude had not changed significantly, but he appeared to no longer rage at every little thing. Instead, he had just seemed dead inside. Like there was no fire driving him.

After the train operation, she'd ordered another background check done on him, to no avail and her continued frustration. He was so much more than he appeared to be on paper, and the fact he'd found out the connection between the Dark Hour and the lab explosion 10 years ago made him dangerous. He was a mystery that had gone unsolved long enough.

Still, she had doubts that he was as callous as he appeared. He'd been curious enough about what Yukari and Junpei had been doing to follow them. He'd ended up saving them from a hopeless and dangerous situation, twice. He'd been passionate about discovering the truth of the Dark Hour at one point. And there was that hug…

She noticed a set of footsteps mirroring hers as she walked towards Gekkoukan's front gate, shaking her from her thoughts. She spun around. Minato was there, shadowing her.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him directly for the first time in a month.

If anything, he looked worse than he did during his meltdown a month ago. His eyes were sunken and had no life in them. He looked as if he hadn't slept or eaten for days. She stared at him in horror, unable to turn away. Despite herself, she found herself concerned and worried about him.

_My god… What is wrong with him?!_

He ignored her stare and walked up to her, nodding in greeting. "Hello. Did Yukari give you her report?"

She nodded dumbly, still in shock from his gaunt appearance. "Y-yes. Based on the evidence, I have made arrangements to speak with the girl who was bullying her and her Homeroom teacher today. If anyone would know something, it would be them."

"Agreed," He said, nodding knowingly. "If she hasn't been reported as missing by now, then the teacher is definitely responsible. Good thinking."

She raised an eyebrow. That was a cold way of looking at this situation. What had happened to him that had made him this way?

She sighed. Keeping him out of their lives wasn't working. The loss in manpower caused by Minato's suspension meant that all expeditions to Tartarus had been suspended as well, which in turn had accelerated their need for additional manpower. Still, if things with this investigation were heading where Mitsuru thought they were… As much as she hated to admit it, they needed him.

Besides, who knew? Maybe involving him would help reintegrate him, at least get him back to a working relationship with the rest of the team.

"You know, Arisato," Mitsuru said hesitantly, "I could use your help with this case."

"Really?" He said with a slightly surprised look. "Are you sure?"

She nodded reluctantly. "You've shown yourself to be a capable investigator, much to my chagrin. I could use that during this interview."

"…Alright," He replied after a moment's thought. "Tell me where and when."

* * *

At lunch, Mitsuru nodded to Minato and they stood up and walked out of the room. As they walked down to the faculty office, he went over the details of the case that Mitsuru had filled in for him.

Apparently, several girls had shown up unconscious on school grounds, all showing signs of Apathy Syndrome. That had led Mitsuru to open an investigation to see if the Shadows were involved somehow. After a few days, Yukari and Junpei found the common factor between all the victims due to a lead provided by Akihiko: Fuuka Yamagishi.

Apparently, all of the girls who had been affected had all also bullied Fuuka at some point in the past month. Luckily, they had one lead left: Natsuki Moriyama, who apparently had been the ring leader. She was also the only one left who wasn't a vegetable, so she was the best lead they had.

A flight of stairs later, Mitsuru opened the door to the faculty office and stepped inside, Minato right behind her. A brunette girl with long hair was shaking uncontrollably in one of the chairs, and the older man who Minato assumed was her teacher was attempting to console her.

They walked up to the two of them, about to start questioning when the door opened again, Yukari and Junpei stepping inside. Yukari's face twisted in surprise as she saw Minato standing with Mitsuru. Junpei, however, just glared. "What are you doing here?"

Minato glanced at the girl, Natsuki. "Same as you," he replied tonelessly. "I would have thought that was obvious."

Mitsuru cleared her throat, interrupting them before the two got into a fight. She turned to the brunette. "Hello, Moriyama. I'd like to know something, if you don't mind?"

"S-sure, Kirijo-Senpai…" The girl responded, her voice small and weak.

"…Do you know a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi?"

Natsuki's head shot up at the sound of Fuuka's name. "Fuuka! Oh god!"

"What about her?" Mitsuru asked urgently, leaning in. "What happened to Fuuka, Natsuki?"

At that, the teacher, Mr. Ekoda, reached out a hand. "Don't answer that!" He turned to Mitsuru. "Now, hold on, Mitsuru. This isn't an interrogation-"

Minato suddenly grabbed the back of Ekoda's chair and pulled, spinning him away from Natsuki. "No. You don't get to speak until you get spoken to."

Ekoda puffed up angrily. "Now you listen here, young man-"

"No, _you_ listen, you arrogant ass!" Minato replied angrily, getting right in Ekoda's face. "You _fabricated_ school documents to make it look like Fuuka was _sick_, not missing. That alone would be enough to convict you for child endangerment and conduct unbecoming a teacher." Ekoda paled at that, but Minato continued. "More than that though, you had to have noticed the signs that she was being bullied; you're her teacher. What did you do about it, though? _Nothing_. No reports to authority, not even a word of public concern for her well-being. We had to rely on rumor and speculation to get this far."

Minato pushed away from Ekoda, a deep anger blazing in his eyes. "I absolutely hate people like you. You get a small taste of power and you abuse it to no end, no matter who gets hurt. You valued your career more than a girl's life." He shook his head in disgust. "If that girl is dead, I'll make sure you answer for it." Ekoda just gaped at him, floundering for words.

Using the opportunity, Minato walked over to Natsuki and crouched down in front of her, looking into her eyes. "Moriyama, look at me. It's alright to talk to us. We won't judge you. We just want to know where Fuuka is."

She gazed at him for a few moments before putting her head in her hands. "Fuuka…" She started, her voice muffled, "She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time… I mean, even though she's an honor student, she's just like us. That's how I knew what buttons to push."

Minato nodded, putting on a concerned face and pulled her hands away, forcing her face to be level with his. "It's alright, Natsuki. We don't need to know why. Just tell us what happened to Fuuka… Please."

Natsuki looked at him for a moment, nodded, and swallowed. "May 29th…" She said, her voice dry, "We took Fuuka to the gym, and locked her inside."

"What?!" Junpei exclaimed, his face twisting in shock and anger. "You locked her in?!"

Minato turned and glared at Junpei as Natsuki started to cry, shoving her head back into her hands. "We tried to find her, we really did!" She said, hysterical. "I went back and opened the gym that night, afraid what would happen if she committed suicide! She wasn't in there! We freaked out! Every night since, we went out looking for her!"

Yukari gasped. "That's why…"

Minato nodded before putting his hand on Natsuki's shoulder. "What happened to the other girls, Natsuki?"

She shook her head, tears flying. "I don't know! They all said that they heard a voice… calling their name… telling them to pay for what they did…"

"…It's them," Minato said with a look at Mitsuru, who nodded in agreement. He turned back to Natsuki. "Listen, I'd like for you to stay at our dorm tonight. It'll be the safest place for you."

"If you hear that voice, then let us know immediately," Mitsuru chimed in. At that moment, the school bell chimed, signaling the end of lunch. The SEES members all looked at each other and nodded, accepting the dire circumstances.

Fuuka Yamagishi was trapped in Tartarus.

* * *

"Alright," Mitsuru said as they climbed back up the stairs, "We'll meet up in the Student Council room after school to discuss this, understood?"

"Ok."

"Gotcha, Senpai."

The two juniors stopped off on the second floor, heading for their classroom, leaving Mitsuru and Minato to climb the next set of stairs alone. An awkward silence permeated the air between the two.

Mitsuru took a glance at Minato as they climbed. She was still surprised by his actions during the interrogation. He'd been vindictive towards Ekoda, like he'd been personally affronted by the man's actions. He'd also made it clear it was not the first time he'd seen such actions done. Where had he gone or what had he done where he'd seen such things before?

Then there were his actions toward Moriyama. He'd been calm, considerate, even soothing as he slowly, but methodically, prodded her to reveal the truth. Judging by how distraught Moriyama had been during the questioning, it was probably the only way they could have gotten the information this quickly. Still, how had he known that would work? She tilted her head towards Minato. "Your concern for Moriyama was touching, Arisato. I didn't know you had it in you."

"'Concern.' Right," He echoed with a snort of derision. "That girl locked someone who trusted her into a gym, and inadvertently sent her into a literal Hell. Not only that, but she tried to have a teacher cover it up when it looked like it was going to blow up in her face."

He scoffed. "I have _tons_ of concern for a person like that." He looked over at her with his emotionless eyes. "Look, I simply did what I had to do in order to get what we needed. What happens to her after this doesn't mean a damn thing to me."

His cold sarcasm shocked her, but somehow less than she had expected. Somewhere, deep inside, Mitsuru agreed with him. Moriyama did something horrible, something no sane person could forgive her for. Still, seeing how broken up the girl had been and what she had said…

He shook his head suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts. "So, what will you do with Ekoda?"

She shrugged. "I'll let the Chairman know. He'll probably be put on suspension until we can determine what punishment to give him."

"Probably get off with a slap on the wrist…" Minato grumbled.

"Not if I have anything to say about it…" Mitsuru growled in response.

With that, the awkward silence returned, without a word spoken between them for the rest of the climb.

* * *

After the end bell had rung, the SEES members all filed into the Student Council room. When the door had been locked to prevent eavesdropping, Mitsuru cleared her throat to signal the start of the meeting. "Tonight, we are going to rescue Fuuka Yamagishi."

"Alright," Minato said with a nod, "How?"

Junpei nodded in agreement with Minato. "Yeah, she's been missing for 10 days now. If she _is_ in Tartarus, then she has to be dead."

"I don't think so," Akihiko said with a shake of his head. "Tartarus only appears in our world during the Dark Hour. We don't actually know where it goes for the rest of the day. It could in theory, only exist in the Dark Hour. Therefore…"

"Therefore," Minato finished, "She would only been trapped for 10 hours, not days."

Junpei sighed in relief, but Yukari shook her head. "Just playing devil's advocate, but we can barely last an hour in Tartarus, and we have Persona. How could she have survived 10 hours by herself?"

No one had an answer. After a few tense moments, Akihiko's face twisted in rage. "So you'll all just leave her there? If there is any chance, any at all, that she's alive, she needs… No, _deserves_ our help!"

"I think Yukari is probably right," Minato said with a sigh. Akihiko rounded on him angrily, but Minato held up his hand to stop him. "However, I do think it couldn't hurt to look." That drew a surprised glance from everyone.

He gave a slight smirk. "Stranger things have happened. Now, time will be of the essence tonight, and, no offense Mitsuru-san, but we can't rely on just Penthesilea to guide us to her. We need something more concrete, some way to narrow down her location. So, I have a proposal." He smirked, a small sign of life popping into his eyes. "The gym. I think if we are inside when the Dark Hour strikes… We could be dropped very close to her."

Mitsuru shook her head. "It's too dangerous. If you do that, then there is no guarantee that I can support you or even guide you back out again. You could end up lost in there with her."

"That doesn't matter," Akihiko replied with a tone of finality. "We can find a teleporter and go straight back to the lobby."

Mitsuru shook her head again. "You could be wandering for hours if that's the case…"

"That doesn't matter!" Akihiko exploded. "I'm not leaving her to die in there, and if none of you will help me, I'll do it alone."

Mitsuru stared at her friend with pity in her eyes. She knew he took what happened with his sister hard, and constantly blamed himself for it. She looked at the determined look on his face, then at the others. They all appeared to be in agreeance. She sighed.

_In for a penny…_

"Alright then," She said with a hint of reluctance, "We will infiltrate the school tonight, and set the team up in the Gym. Akihiko, you are fully healed now, correct?" He nodded. "Good, you will be field leader for this operation."

Minato's gut twisted with remorse as he was reminded of his failed outing as leader.

**No matter. I don't care either way.**

The other SEES members all looked at each other with a firm resolve.

They were going to save this girl, even if it killed them.

* * *

Later that night, in the lounge, they were all gathered around the command console as Mitsuru attempted to contact Ikutsuki. They needed his help to gain access to the school grounds. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. After the sixth attempt to contact him failed, Mitsuru sighed in defeat. Without Ikutsuki's help, this operation was over before it began.

Minato looked over at Mitsuru. "No luck?"

"He seems to be busy…" She said, shaking her head.

"It's ok. We don't need his help." Minato said as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket, dangling them in front of her.

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "Where did you get those?" She asked incredulously as she snatched them from his hand.

He shrugged. "'Swiped them from the office on our way out. Figured we might need them, if my theory was correct. It was, by the way."

She tried to get angry with him. She really did. However, his foresight had granted them a way inside. She smirked as she shook her head in disbelief. "We'll talk about this after we have accomplished our mission."

To her surprise, he smirked back, a small glimmer of humor showing through his stagnant blue eyes. "I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

At 10 minutes to midnight, SEES successfully infiltrated the school grounds and were set up in the lobby, waiting for the clock to run down.

Akihiko was pacing, anxious and ready for action. Junpei was biting his nails, a habit that reared its head every time he was extremely nervous. Yukari was checking the tension on her bowstring, making sure that it was taut and ready. Mitsuru had brought her mobile terminal and was adjusting it, doing her best to be ready to assist them. Minato just stood in the corner, watching and waiting.

5 minutes before the Dark Hour struck, Mitsuru turned to Akihiko and said, "Alright, it's time. Pick your team."

He looked at his choices. Yukari looked as if she were nervous, unsure if she were ready for a potential slog. Junpei had his trademark cocky grin on, anxious that he could finally stretch his wings after so long being cooped up. Minato looked as emotionless as ever, but underneath it all, he could see a shimmer of life. Akihiko mulled it over. Maybe this was exactly what Minato needed to finally break the madness that had gripped him for the last month.

That settled it. Yukari could stay behind to watch Mitsuru's back. He pointed at Minato and Junpei. "You two are with me. Come on."

They nodded at Akihiko, and fell in behind him as they walked toward the gym.

* * *

Mitsuru had qualms about letting Minato be a part of the ground team, but she was not sure that she could have focused one hundred percent on the job at hand if he had been there. He was exuding a strange aura, Penthesilea had felt. It was dark, dangerous and extremely powerful. She only hoped that whatever it was did not interfere with the mission.

_Afterward, though, I am going to force him to tell me what his problem is. This has gone on long enough._

At Midnight, The Dark Hour struck, and the lobby they were in changed into the entrance hall of Tartarus right before their eyes. Yukari shook her head after the process had finished. "Ok, that was even creepier on the inside."

Mitsuru quickly turned on the mobile transceiver and set the sensitivity to maximum. "Akihiko, can you read me?"

No response. She tried again. "Akihiko, can you read me? Please respond."

Silence. Yukari shuddered in fear. "Oh god…"

Mitsuru's gut twisted. If she couldn't find them…

Suddenly a static filled voice emitted from the transceiver. "_Mitsuru? ..ou hear me?" _It was Akihiko!

"Yes, I hear you!" She confirmed. "Give me a moment! I'm using Penthesilea to locate your position!" After a moment, she located him. He was high up in the tower. _Very_ high up. "Akihiko, I can barely hear you. You are just inside comms range. What's your status?"

Static mangled his words, making only a couple intelligible. "_Don't kn…where…others…..got…..eperated…"_

"Akihiko?" No response. She attempted to boost the signal, but he faded out of contact. "Dammit!" She exclaimed.

Yukari jumped. Mitsuru never swore. She must have been more worried than Yukari thought, which made her _really_ worried. She made a silent wish in her head.

_Please be safe everyone. Even you, Junpei._

* * *

As he slowly became conscious, Minato's head started pounding. After a moment of lying on the ground, holding his head in pain, he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The light shining down from some unknown part of the ceiling was shining right in his eyes. Closing his eyes, he rolled over, pushed himself up to a kneeling position and shook his head. Where were the others? Where was he?

He held his head in his hand as the pounding suddenly intensified. It was unbelievably painful, like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer. He let out a small whimper of pain. "Ugh…"

"Hurts like a bitch, huh?"

His eyes shot open. He sprang to his feet, drew his rapier, and spun around to the direction the voice had come from… and his mouth fell open in shock.

Standing in front of him, was a man wearing the face that Minato saw in the mirror every day; his face. He had the same mouth, the same hair, even the same mole on the side of his neck. The only noticeable difference was instead of the ocean blue eyes he saw in the mirror, the copy had bright yellow eyes, the same color as the full moon.

The copy smiled brightly at him and said, "Wow, you look like shit."

He stared at his copy for what felt like hours, shocked speechless. A sudden irrational anger burst through him as his brain restarted, one as bright as it had been during the train operation a month ago. He snarled as he raised his rapier and growled, "Who are you?"

The copy shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I'm you."

* * *

Junpei was more than a little scared to move right now. The three of them had proceeded to the gym as planned, but after the Dark Hour had struck, he had been knocked out; by what exactly, he didn't know. Now, he'd woken up alone in a room in Tartarus with no way to contact his team and no support from the outside. If he ran into a group of Shadows up here by himself, he was toast. Still, the longer he stayed in this room, the less time he had to escape.

So he steeled himself as he carefully edged out into the hall, his sword at the ready. At the end of the hall, he rounded a corner and shrieked as he ran into a figure. He reacted quickly, swinging his sword at the figure. Then he actually saw what it was he was attacking, and quickly adjusted his aim. The blue haired girl shrieked and fell backwards as the sword dug a hole into the wall where her head had been. Junpei quickly put his sword aside, horror and embarrassment running through him. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

She stared up at him with tearful eyes for a moment, then got up and hugged him forcefully. "Thank god," She said happily, "You're human!"

"Uh, no problem," Junpei said bashfully, blushing at the sudden contact. "Are you Fuuka? Fuuka Yamagishi?"

She pulled away, nodding. "Yes. Did you come to rescue me?"

He nodded, grinning like a madman. "Yes, I did. Junpei Iori, Persona-user and all-round good guy! Nice to meet'cha!"

She smiled at his enthusiasm. "I'm Fuuka Yamagishi. But I guess you already knew that…"

He grinned for a moment before a question popped into his head. "Hey, how did you last in here so long anyway, Fuuka-Chan? The Shadows should have found you by now."

"What?" She said with a frown. "So there are things in here…"

"Huh?"

"I can… _feel_ those things out there, I guess." She shook her head in confusion. "I don't know how, or why-"

"She has the same type of power as Mitsuru, I'd wager."

The surprise voice made the two of them jump. Fuuka leapt behind Junpei as he whirled around, looking for the person the voice had come from. It was Akihiko. Junpei extricated himself from Fuuka's arms with a blush, which he tried to pass off as anger. "Hey, senpai, what's the big deal!? It's not ok to sneak up on people, especially in here!"

"You need to keep your wits about you in this place, Junpei," Akihiko replied with a grin. "You know that." He looked around. "Any sign of Minato?"

Junpei shook his head. "Nope… Haven't seen hide nor hair of him."

Akihiko frowned. "Damn, I hope he's alright."

Junpei looked at the ground, conflicting feelings running through him at the thought of Minato. In the 2 months that he'd known him, Minato had been at the center of everything concerning the Dark Hour. He'd become the lynchpin, the hero, without even trying. When he did that shit a month ago, it had hurt all of them. The bastard had hurt Junpei especially with what he'd said on the train, but it soon looked like he'd been having a worse time with it than the rest of them.

Eventually Junpei's anger had fallen way to pity. The dude couldn't even _see_ that he had a bunch of people behind him, ready to help him. Akihiko, Yukari, even Mitsuru all expressed concern about him in private, despite what he'd done. If Minato had asked for help, they'd have probably listened. The thought made Junpei jealous at first, but after Minato had saved them in that alley, simply by being there at the right time, he realized he could be one of those people too. He could be a hero to Minato, simply by being there for him whether he gave a shit about them or not.

At that moment, he vowed that he would fix whatever had happened to his _friend_, come hell or high water.

"Me too, Senpai," He said, a look of determination on his face. "Me too…"

* * *

"What kind of bullshit answer is that; 'I'm you?'" Minato asked, grinding his teeth. His anger was blazing inside of him, urging him to attack, but his curiosity still stayed his hand. After all, it wasn't every day you met your identical twin.

His copycat just smirked and said, "It's the best one I could come up to describe this… situation."

"What are you? A Shadow?"

"Got it in one," His copycat said with a smile. "Well, I mean, I'm kind of a Shadow. I'm a part of you given form through a set of _really_ specific circumstances."

"What do you mean?" He said, shaking his head in confusion. "What do you want?"

"What I mean is; I'm you," His copycat said, spreading his hands to showcase himself. "I'm the part of you that you keep hidden, even from yourself." He smiled. "As for what I want? Well, one thing really: acceptance."

"…What?" Minato asked, shaking his head in confusion. "What do you mean, 'part that I keep hidden?'"

"Come on, use that big brain of yours," His copy said condescendingly. "Oh, I have an example! So, you _have_ realized that your mood swings for the past month were not natural, right?"

"No," Minato lied, shaking his head in denial, "That's not true."

"Bullshit," His copycat said, frowning. "You knew that something wasn't right. Since when have you ever argued with yourself? Since when has there ever been a time when you weren't in control of your emotions?" He held up a hand. "_Don't_ bring up Haruya,' cause you and I both know you knew what you were potentially getting into."

He stared in shock. "…How do you know that?"

"Because I _am_ _you_, you idiot! I was there! I saw it all, felt it all!" His copy said exasperatedly. He shook his head in frustration. "For the first time in 8 years, you finally let me loose from the recesses of your mind!"

His copycat smiled brightly at him. "You finally fell in love. For 3 glorious months, you let yourself be open about who you were with someone outside your family. It was magnificent." His smile turned into a mask of rage. "Then that _bitch_ broke our heart, tore it to pieces. She helped her father kidnap us, held us for _ransom_, and left us to die." He shrugged. "After that, I went back behind your walls of denials and lies… only this time? They were ten times as strong."

"Shut up!" Minato screamed at the copy, his head pounding. It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

"Still don't believe me?" His copycat shook his head. "Yukari was right. What happened on the train was not like you… not at all." The copycat made a gesture with his hand, and, all of a sudden, the memories of what he had said and done that night a month ago shot through his mind. It was more than memories, though: He was shown the emotions that were hidden behind that burning anger.

His regret.

His shame.

His sadness.

His pain.

The surge of emotion was too strong. He felt like he was going to drown in it. He screamed as he fell to his knees, dropping his rapier. "It's too much! Stop it!"

His copycat shook its head, falling to its knees as well. "I can't. That's all you, man."

He worked backwards, viewing the past months in perfect clarity. He could feel it, the sadness, pain, and loneliness threatening to burst from his chest as if it had a mind of its own. Every glare that Junpei gave when he saw him, every glance of fear and distrust from Yukari, Mitsuru's disappointment and anger burning in her gaze, Akihiko's concern and sadness emblazoned on his face; He saw it all. His mind went back further.

Months.

Years.

It was too much.

Tears ran down his face. His heart felt like it was going to explode. His gut ached. He screamed in agony. "Stop it!"

"I _can't_," His copycat said with a grimace. Tears ran down his face too.

"You _need_ to feel this."

* * *

The three teens had explored every inch of the floor they could and still had not found any trace of Minato. Akihiko's worry was starting to blind him. He decided to try and contact Mitsuru to see if, maybe, she could help find Minato. He pulled out his mini-transceiver and tuned it to max sensitivity. "Mitsuru, can you read me?"

Static filled the line.

"Dammit," He said under his breath.

Junpei looked out the window, staring at the moon. "Wow, look at it..."

"Big, isn't it?" Akihiko said with a smirk. "Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon."

Junpei snickered as a thought came to him. "Hey, are we sure that Minato isn't a Shadow? I mean, he had that crazy mood swing on the train during the full moon, so…"

Akihiko stiffened. Junpei had meant it as a joke, but… "That's it!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, I was joking Akihiko-senpai-"

Akihiko held up his hand, cutting him off. "Junpei, think about this for a second: Your Persona is an aspect of your personality that has power. You use the Evoker to 'break' that power loose from your mind, right?"

"Duh, but what does that have to do with… Wait a minute…" Junpei's mouth fell open as he put the pieces together. "You mean, in that video, when he used the Evoker…?"

"He 'broke' his mind," Akihiko said with a look of horror on his face. "He split his personality."

Junpei shook his head in disbelief. "Oh god… and he's been going through that alone…" Sadness for the pain his friend had suffered through spread throughout his chest. Something else stuck out to him, something else he had noticed. "Hey, speaking of mood swings, during the train op, Minato went berserk on the Shadow we killed. I remember thinking at the time that it kinda reminded me of the video of his Persona..."

He snapped his fingers. "Hey, now that I think about it, he acted _just_ like that Persona in the video, right down to the howl at the end!" He turned to Akihiko. "Do you think that's why he's been acting so strange? That Persona has been influencing him?"

"…Perhaps. That would explain why he's been so anti-social recently." Akihiko said before shaking his head. "My question is, why'd he act like that only during the operation? He had a full month between using the Evoker and that operation and he never showed any sign of this until then." He sighed. "What could the two events have in common…?"

He glanced out the window, where the full moon shone brightly in the sky. His body stiffened and his heart sank as he made the connection.

"Oh god… The attack on the dorm was during a full moon too."

"But wait, It's a full moon now. Does that mean…?"

Akihiko looked at Junpei with fear in his eyes. He yanked out his transceiver and started to speak urgently into it. "Mitsuru, can you hear me? Mitsuru, are you there?!"

Static distorted her voice as she replied. "_Akihiko! Shadows are-" _The line went dead.

"Mitsuru? Mitsuru?!"

Static answered him.

"What?" Fuuka said with a hint of disgust. "What…is this thing?"

Both boys turned towards Fuuka. She grimaced, eyes closed in concentration. "There are two large ones…and they are attacking something below us!"

Akihiko's eyes widened. "We need to get back to the lobby, right now!"

"Wait, what about Minato?!" Junpei exclaimed. "We can't just leave him here!"

He grimaced. Junpei was right. If they left Minato, there was no guarantee that they would be able to find him again. Without a Persona, even as skilled as he was, it was a death sentence. If they didn't get to Mitsuru in time, though, both she and Yukari were dead for sure. He screamed in frustration. There was no right answer.

The amount of lives at stake made his decision for him.

"Junpei, we need to help Mitsuru," Akihiko said through gritted teeth. "She and Yukari are facing those things alone down there, and we can help them."

Junpei's face contorted in rage. "By leaving Minato to die!"

Akihiko slammed his fist against the wall. "Dammit, I don't like it either, but Mitsuru and Yukari are both down there. They have Persona, and he doesn't. Two lives vs one. It sucks, but it's a decision I have to make as leader."

Junpei shook his head in disgust. "If that's a decision that leaders have to make, then screw it; I don't want the job."

He straightened himself, then sighed heavily after a few seconds of thought.

"I wanna go back and look for him…" Junpei said with a frown, "…But I feel that he'd rip my head off if I endangered everyone else for him. So I'm not doing this cause you told me to." His face contorted in sadness at the decision he'd made. "I'm doing this cause he'd want me to."

* * *

He didn't know how long he'd sat there crying. It felt like hours.

Everything he'd ever said and done over the past few years had come back to haunt him, all at once. For the first time in a month, he felt like he looked; like crap. He looked up at his copycat, who was wiping the tears from his eyes as well. Anger rose up within him.

"Why did you do that!?" He asked, his voice weak, but charged with anger. "What possible reason could have justified that torture?!"

His copycat frowned as he stood up. "I don't know, what gives you the right to inflict that on others?!" He threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "God, even now, you are so consumed by selfishness, that you missed the point completely!"

His copycat walked over to him and dropped to a crouch. Yellow looked into Blue. "Goddamn it, man. You seem to think that by never revealing who you truly are, you are protecting yourself. Newsflash: You aren't. You're isolating yourself. You saw what happened when you finally stopped caring; Pain and self-loathing and repression, all feeding each other in a never ending cycle."

A small smile appeared on the copy's face. "Care to see what happens when you _do_ care?"

Before Minato could say anything, another memory gripped him. It was the small genuine smile that Mitsuru had given him after he had hugged her. The memory moved in slow motion, allowing him to pick up all the details he had missed. He felt all the emotions that he had repressed, hiding behind denials; Lust, happiness, joy, attraction. These feelings assaulted his senses. He could smell her fragrance, feel her warm gaze.

Mitsuru Kirijo was a mystery to him. She was a living contradiction. She was smart, talented and beautiful, yet she was also caring, kind and understanding. Despite her criminal heritage, she fought to save the people of her home from an unknown enemy. She challenged him at everything they did together, pushing him to do better, to be better.

Tears pricked his eyes again.

The truth that had broken him, that he had hidden from, was plain as day; He was falling for her. Hard.

And that terrified him, so much so that it pushed him over the edge into insanity.

The memory shifted. It showed Yukari, smiling at him from across the train. He felt a warm sense of belonging, of care, and affection for her. He could see Makoto's features lurking behind hers, a ghost of a smile on her lips. He cared for her like his sister, the one who she reminded him so much of.

The memory shifted again. Junpei was chatting with him on their way home from school, a warm, enthusiastic presence emanating from him. He felt a sense of loyal respect and the beginnings of a bond, made of fire and blood, take hold.

It shifted again. He was jogging next to Akihiko. They hadn't known each other long, but already, a friendly rivalry was beginning to form. During the last stretch, they raced each other to the dorm, delighting in the competition. He felt a sense of companionship from him. Approval shone in his eyes, happy to find someone who just wanted to know him.

It shifted once more. He saw them all, gathered in the command room, chatting as they worked away on homework and club activities before beginning their daily training. Trust between all of them had formed, even without him realizing. The thing he had feared for so long had formed right under his nose.

It felt…good. All of it. This is what he'd been hiding from?

All of a sudden, the memories stopped, jerking him back into the real world. He shook his head before looking at his copycat, who had a far-away look on his face. "What's wrong?" Minato asked. "What's happening?"

The copycat shook his head, his eyes snapping back into focus. "I was hoping that this would have been finished by now. Guess we're all out of time." He gave Minato a grim look. "Your friends are in trouble."

"How could you possibly know that!?" Minato asked incredulously.

His copy smirked. "I'm a Shadow, remember? I can get you back to the lobby if you want…" He looked Minato over. "…But you can't win this fight. Not like this."

Minato grimaced angrily at his copy. He knew what he felt for them now, and he would be damned if they were taken away from him. He grabbed his rapier and stood up fully. "I don't care, get me down there now!"

"Ok…" His Shadow said with a shrug. He raised his hand. "But don't say I didn't warn you…"

A burst of green light surrounded the twins, and they blinked out of existence.

* * *

Minato blinked as the world suddenly came back into focus. He was in the lobby of Tartarus. He saw two gigantic Shadows towering over Junpei, Akihiko, Yukari, and Mitsuru. They were on the ground, wounded.

A girl he could only assume was Fuuka Yamagishi stood in front of the other Shadow, her own Persona forming a protective bubble around her. She appeared to be protecting Natsuki Moriyama from it.

The Shadow closest to his comrades drew its sword up, getting ready to finish them off. He readied his rapier. He knew it was a suicide mission, but if he did nothing, the people he had inadvertently come to care for would die.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. His copy had come with him.

"If you go, you'll die."

Minato shrugged him off. "If you really are me, then you already know what I'm gonna do."

His copy nodded sadly. "I do."

He ran forward, hoping that a surprise attack would give him a chance to get the others off their feet.

Mitsuru noticed his charge out of the corner of her eye. "No!" she shouted, "That won't work! Arisato, get Yamagishi and get out of here!"

Her warning came too late.

He screamed as he thrust the rapier towards the large Shadow's legs. It impacted with what looked like a glass wall 3 inches away from the Shadow's leg, bending with the force then finally shattering as the blade reached its breaking point. Minato felt something in his wrist give way as the recoil traveled up his arm, and he dropped the hilt, grasping his hand in pain.

The Shadow whirled around a second later and kicked Minato, sending him flying across the room. His right shoulder impacted the wall first, and he felt something snap. He slid to the ground, screaming in pain, clutching his right arm.

The pest dealt with, the Shadow turned around and prepared to finish the job that it had started. Minato looked out in anguish at the people he had come to care about.

Akihiko had a defiant grimace on his face, struggling to fight, Evoker just out of reach.

Junpei held his side in pain, a pained smile on his face.

Yukari's face was screwed up in pain as she dragged herself towards her bow, lying just out of reach.

Mitsuru looked straight back at him, a multitude of emotions running across her face, the largest of which was regret.

A pain that he had never felt before shot through him. This anguish was different, stronger than any he'd ever felt before. It made the torture he had gone through earlier seem tame in comparison. It took him a second to figure out why.

He had failed them.

Now he would watch them die.

"We never got to finish our conversation, you know."

Minato's gaze shot towards his copy, who was kneeling right next to him. "What the hell are you waiting for? Help them!" He pointed at the SEES members with his left hand. As he turned back, he was surprised to see that everything was frozen. The Shadows, SEES, even the dust in the air.

"What the…?"

His copy smiled. "Cool trick, huh? Doesn't last for very long though… Anyway, _I_ can't help them. That's not how this works." At Minato's questioning look, he rolled his eyes. "I'm you, remember? Everything you can do, I can do… Well not better, but…" He waved his hand. "You know what I mean."

Minato sighed in frustration. "Ok, I'll bite. What's the point of all this? The memories, the emotions?"

The copy smirked. "To show you how much the path you're on hurts. To show you what you've been missing all your life."

Minato's face twisted in rage. "But why? Why right when they're about to die!?"

His copy shook his head. "They don't have to. You can save them." He put his hand on Minato's shoulder. "All you have to do is accept me. Feel. Live. Be open with them, with yourself." He smiled. "Hell, try to fall in love."

All he had to do to save them was accept… himself?

He thought back on his life. He had never had a close connection with anyone, prior to Haruya. The pain of loneliness had always been there, buried beneath lies he told himself: That it was too risky, that it was to protect his heart.

That was no way to live, he realized. Life is risk. In order to receive, one must give.

He thought back to before his meltdown. He had started to connect with people, for the first time. They had not asked anything of him, except that he was himself. When he had hidden, afraid of the connection; all of them, not just him, were affected. It wasn't just his heart he affected anymore, it was theirs too.

This is what it was to care; to live.

He resolved himself.

He wanted to live.

He wanted to stop hiding.

His hidden side smiled brightly as he started to fade. "Good choice."

And with that, he disappeared.

Everything unfroze. The Shadow screeched as it raised its sword above its head, preparing to strike the final blow.

"_Hey!" _

The Shadow froze for a moment, then turned towards the source of the sound.

Minato stood up, his broken arm curled against his stomach.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm not done with you yet, asshole!"

The Shadow screeched, sword held at the ready. Minato stepped forward, and the Shadow followed his movement, stepping towards him.

Mitsuru screamed in agony. "No, Arisato! What are you doing!?"

The Shadow closed the distance, raised its sword over its head, and swung.

Minato formed his left hand into the shape of a gun, and put it against his temple.

He pulled the 'trigger'.

The sound of glass shattering filled the room.

"Persona!"

.

.

.

**_(This is the second part of the original chapter 3. It hasn't changed much. Anyway, this is part of my ongoing edit. I've been ninja editing as much as possible over the past couple of days, and I think that the first half of the story is starting to flow a lot better now. I will be working on the next real chapter over the next day or so, since my writer's block is "mostly" gone, so here's hoping I can get it done before another month passes. Hope you guys like the way the story feels now! As always, please Review or PM me if you have Questions, Concerns, Criticisms, or if you just wanna say you liked it. See you in the real next chapter! - Dr. Ninja.)_**

Edit: God this was just as hard to get through the second time. Hopefully this makes Minato's change of heart much more believable and impactful, given the prior changes.


	5. June 8th cont - 9th

Today was officially one of the _worst_ days of Fuuka Yamagishi's life, and she'd had a few. First, she'd been locked in the gym by Moriyama-san. Then she'd been transported to this strange place. Then she had been stuck for hours, constantly watching and waiting for something to jump out at her. Then something had and she had nearly lost her head, literally.

She had been momentarily granted a reprieve, when it turned out that she had nearly lost her head to the person who had come to save her.

Junpei Iori and Akihiko Sanada had known about this strange place for some time apparently, and had come to find and save her. Things were looking up at that point. Then they had revealed a friend of theirs they'd come with was missing. They had searched around until she felt a large set of what they called Shadows start attacking their friends downstairs. They had searched for and found a teleporter pad before teleporting down to the lobby.

The two monsters had already defeated Mitsuru Kirijo and Yukari Takeba by the time they'd arrived, and had seen the newcomers as fresh opponents. The two boys had rushed forwards to protect their friends, but had no luck when attacking the creatures. All of their attacks seemed to just slide off without doing any damage.

They were quickly defeated within a few minutes.

In the midst of the fight, Moriyama-san of all people stumbled into the lobby, looking dazed and confused. Fuuka had darted from her hiding place and grabbed her as she stumbled towards the Shadows. Fuuka took a moment to convince Moriyama-san to run, but her eyes were glazed over and she didn't seem to register anything that Fuuka said. At that point, one of the monsters had started to lumber toward the two of them, as if drawn to their presence.

Fuuka looked for anything she could use to protect her friend, anything at all. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the silver handguns that the two boys had been carrying. She had snatched it up, and felt a strange calling coming from within herself. It became an instinctive movement as she put the gun against her temple and pulled the trigger.

A burst of power had erupted from inside her. She felt a warm cocoon form around her as her Persona, Lucia, came forth. When she did so, the feelings that she had been experiencing all evening lit up like a bonfire. She could see everything; the other Persona-users' status, their strengths and weaknesses, and, more importantly, the strengths and weaknesses of the Shadows in front of her. Apparently, they had a special ability that allowed them to switch their resistances on the fly. Unfortunately for them, she could see and predict it. With this, she could help win this battle.

Fuuka had just one problem: she had no way to capitalize on this. Her Persona was just like her, sensitive and not inclined to violence. She couldn't even tell the others how to defeat them, as they were in no state to fight. The Shadow in front of her, stunned by the sudden appearance of the Persona, started to lumber toward her again.

That was when a flash of green light had occurred in the corner of the lobby. Two identically looking teens with blue hair stood next to the teleporter pad. The only noticeable difference between them she could see were the color of their eyes. One had ocean blue, the other had bright yellow. The blue eyed one talked to the other one for a moment, then raised his sword and rushed the Shadow attacking his comrades.

She could not warn him in time.

He thrust the sword towards the leg of the Shadow, obviously intending to cripple it. The sword bent and broke as the Shadow's skin resisted and deflected the blow. The Shadow quickly spun around and kicked the boy, sending him careening toward the wall. He had impacted the wall with a sickening crack, slumping to the ground.

With that, her last hope burned away. She closed her eyes. The Shadow was almost upon her. It didn't matter. The Shadow would not get Moriyama-san, not while she still drew breath.

Suddenly, she felt something: a massive reading that just popped into existence. Her eyes shot open and snapped to the source. After a moment of shock, she quickly analyzed the blue haired teen that was getting to his feet. She had been sure that he hadn't had a Persona a second ago. What she felt emanating from him now was powerful. She stared wide-eyed as the teen taunted the Shadow that had hit him. The Shadow turned to him, raised its sword and swung.

The boy raised his hand in the shape of a gun to his temple. His thumb snapped down like the hammer of a pistol, and he shouted, "Persona!"

That was when everything changed.

* * *

Minato heard _his_ Persona speak to him as it shimmered into view.

_I am thou… thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come… I am the force of arbitration, the balance on the scales of the universe, the guardian of the once-and-future king... Jehuty! _

A loud clang of metal on metal sounded throughout the lobby as his Persona intercepted the Shadow's blade. At a glance, Jehuty appeared to be a damaged and scarred bipedal robot. He was almost skeletal in appearance with a blade extending backwards from his right arm, pulsing with light. He had an angular, skeletal face with a hint of a beak, suggesting a bird like appearance. Jets of flame shot from exhausts on its back, forming what looked like wings.

The members of SEES stared in shock at their blue-haired comrade. He had just summoned a Persona, something that he'd not even _had_ a second ago, without an Evoker!

With an almost contemptuous shove, Jehuty pushed back against the Shadow's blade, sending the Shadow tumbling. The immediate threat dealt with, he turned to the other Shadow. It had also raised its weapon, prepared to smash Fuuka into the floor. He raised his arm in her direction, and Jehuty responded, blinking out of existence and reappearing in front of the Shadow just as suddenly to catch the Shadow's arm. With one quick movement, Jehuty head butted the Shadow, knocking it back. It tumbled backwards into its partner, sending them both sprawling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Now Minato had some room to work with. He quickly consulted with his Persona, finding out what it was good at. Surprisingly, it had just what they needed. He smiled as he felt the spell build then convulse within him.

"Media!"

A wave of green light burst from his Persona, washing over the group. They felt the pain of their injuries fade as their wounds closed. They staggered to their feet as their comrade walked over to them, a cocky smile on his face. He looked as if he had come alive for the first time in months, a fire burning brightly behind his eyes.

"So is this what you guys feel like all the time?" He asked with a chuckle. "I'm jealous!"

They stared at him incredulously for a moment before Junpei laughed in exhilaration, breaking the tension. "You're such a show off! Had to save all that for the most dramatic moment, huh, you bastard!?"

Minato laughed. It felt foreign to his ears. He hadn't laughed in a long time. "Well, if you're gonna do something, do it in style!"

An inhuman screech interrupted their banter. The Shadows had gotten back on their feet, and they were _pissed. _Minato grimaced as SEES turned to face them. "Ok, what's the battle plan?"

"Nothing we try works," Mitsuru said with a shake of her head. "Arrows, blades, fists… You saw the way it shattered your sword. None of our elemental attacks seem to have any effect either."

"And you can't locate a weakness?"

She shook her head as she sadly regarded her destroyed motorbike. "Not without my equipment, and that's all destroyed."

A girl's voice rang out through the hall. "I can!" Fuuka said excitedly. "They rotate their weaknesses around, to keep you guessing! I can predict it, though!"

Minato looked over at Fuuka. She was still in the entrance hall, but he had heard her as if she was right next to him. He glanced at Akihiko, who nodded back. "She has the same ability as Mitsuru," he explained, "But hers is much stronger."

"Ok, Fuuka-san," He said with a nod, "You keep us updated. Let us know what they're weak to when they change." Fuuka sent a wave of affirmation through the link in response. Minato looked back at his comrades and a sad look came across his face. "Hey, before all this starts… I want you all to know that I'm sorry." That drew a set of surprised looks. He shook his head. "I've been such an asshole to you all. It was…" He swallowed back his tears. "I know what it is I want now. I know that doesn't mean much right now, but-"

"Arisato," Mitsuru interrupted, holding up her hand. A small smile crept on her face, and for the first time, Minato's heart soared, not recoiled, at the sight. "…Save this for after the fight. We'll have time for apologies later."

He nodded. She was right. Fight now, talk later. "Alright… Fuuka-san, what are they weak to right now?"

"Fire and Lightning!" She said determinedly.

"Ok, Junpei, Akihiko, You're up!" The two boys nodded as they pulled out their Evokers and fired.

"Hermes! Agi!"

"Polydeuces! Zio!"

A blast of fire impacted the more feminine of the Shadows and it started to burn away some of its armor. Lightning struck the other more masculine one, causing it to convulse violently. A moment later, a wave of energy emitted from the two Shadows as they switched resistances.

"Ice, Fire!"

Stepping forward, Mitsuru yanked out her Evoker and pulled the trigger. "Penthesilea! Bufu!" A hail of ice shards shredded the feminine shadow, puncturing her armor. Fire burned the masculine one as Junpei switched targets.

Worry started to form in Minato's gut as the battle progressed. They were doing damage now at least, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Shadows would start taking this fight seriously pretty soon…

As if they had been reading his mind, the two Shadows suddenly swung their weapons. A gust of wind blew Junpei off his feet and a blast of fire nearly took out Mitsuru. Luckily, she threw herself to the side a moment before, barely managing to dodge in time. The two teens shook themselves off as both got back on their feet.

Minato grimaced. He'd been afraid of this. They were on even footing now with Fuuka by their side, but the Shadows were starting this fight fresh. SEES were all still wounded and nearly tanked on energy, having burned most of it earlier in the fight. They wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for much longer. Minato racked his brain, looking for a solution.

_Come on, think! If only my arm weren't busted, I might be able to help…!_

He mentally smacked himself in realization. He was forgetting; he had a Persona now. He could still help, even with his busted arm. He mentally ran through his Persona's skills, searching for one that might help. Eventually he found one, causing a deadly smirk to form on his face.

_If we aren't doing enough damage, we just need to up the firepower._

He put his hand-gun to his head again. "Jehuty! Matarukaja!" His Persona appeared behind him, making a low screech as it emitted a wave of red energy. The wave of energy had no noticeable effects on the people it washed over, but their Personas' gained a bright red aura around them, the spell that Minato performed having boosted their power tenfold.

"Wind and Ice!" Fuuka called out. Yukari quickly stepped up, a determined look on her face as she pulled out her Evoker and fired.

"Io! Garu!"

"Penthesilea! Bufu!"

A blast of wind as powerful as a hurricane blew out from the giant bull's head of her Persona, knocking the feminine Shadow over. Ice spikes the size of small logs formed around Penthesilea before shooting forward, perforating the armor of the masculine Shadow and forcing it to raise its hands in defense. "Keep it up!" Minato encouraged. "Press the attack! Don't give them room to breathe!" Yukari and Mitsuru nodded, each casting their attacks again, pushing the Shadows back even further.

The masculine Shadow looked at its fallen partner as it was pressed back. The wind was blowing so hard against it that it was literally being blown apart. A few moments later, it let out a keen howl before disintegrating into a puddle of shadowy gore, causing the remaining Shadow to howl at the loss of its partner. A wave of energy burst out of the Shadow a moment before swinging its sword, flinging a bolt of lightning straight at Yukari.

"Yukari!" Minato yelled in warning, but it was too late. Yukari cried out in pain as the bolt struck her, energy beginning to course through her body. He watched in horror as she convulsed uncontrollably for what felt like an eternity before she finally collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Minato quickly ran to her side, put his ear next to her mouth, and grabbed her wrist, checking her vitals. She was alive and breathing, thankfully, just knocked unconscious by the attack. He sighed in momentary relief before his face contorted in anger.

"That's it…!" he growled under his breath. This thing had caused enough pain today. It was dying right now.

Another burst of energy shot out from the masculine Persona as it switched resistances again. "What?" Fuuka said, surprised. "It's weak to… Dark? But none of us have that!" Minato rose to his feet in response, raising his hand-gun to his head.

"I do."

He pulled the trigger. His Persona appeared behind him, raising its hand as a pool of darkness began to form underneath the Shadow's feet. Minato smirked. "Mudo!"

The pool of darkness suddenly leapt up from the ground, its tendrils of darkness grasping at the Shadow's torso and limbs. Once the pool had a hold on the Shadow, it began pulling the Shadow into itself. The Shadow screeched as it was slowly dragged into the pool, devoured by the darkness. After a moment's struggle, the Shadow ceased to exist.

They had won.

* * *

Minato huffed in exhaustion. It had been a close fight, but they'd made it.

"Alright!" Junpei yelled as he jumped in the air, pumping his fist. "We did it! Screw those guys!"

"Careful, Iori," Mitsuru warned, smirking at his enthusiasm, "You don't want to aggravate your injuries."

He turned and grinned at her. "Aw, it's ok Senpai! I feel like a million bucks right now!" As if on cue, he suddenly grasped his side in pain. "Ow! God!"

Minato laughed as he knelt down next to Yukari. "Hey there sleepyhead," He said, shaking her lightly, "It's time to wake up."

As if she had heard him, Yukari stirred. "Ugh…"

Minato smirked at her. "You're alive! You feeling alright?"

"I don't know…" She smirked back at him. "Did you catch the name of the truck that hit me? Did it look familiar?"

Remembering his own joke at the hospital a few months ago, he laughed before holding out a hand. Taking it, she pulled herself up with his help, stumbling to her feet. He put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. "You sure you're good?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Her smirk widened. "So… so much for not giving a shit, huh?"

He gave her a small sad smirk before turning to look at Fuuka. The teal-haired girl was kneeling in front of Natsuki, who was crying and apologizing profusely. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, Fuuka!" Natsuki cried, "I'm so, so sorry! I-I feel horrible f-for what I've done to you! P-P-Please forgive me!"

Fuuka just smiled at her, tears filling her eyes. "Of course I forgive you. You're my friend, Moriyama-san…" With that, Fuuka wrapped her arms around Natsuki, holding her as she cried on her shoulder. The scene struck a chord in Minato. Tears pricked at his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Fuuka had been tortured by this girl constantly for the past month. She'd been abused and disrespected. Yet, she held no hatred for the offender. She had _forgiven_ her, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

He knew why speaking to Natsuki earlier had been so natural for him: he was just like her. He had betrayed the trust of the people close to him in pursuit of his own selfish desires. And just like her, he desired forgiveness more than anything else in the world, even more than that his own life.

He turned to them, the people that he had hurt constantly over the past few months.

Minato wiped his face and cleared his throat, willing himself not to cry. "Um…I don't really know how to start," He choked out, "So I'll guess I'll just s-start with this… I'm sorry. I'm so s-sorry for what I've said and done over the past few months. I've pushed you all away, for selfish reasons. I-I've betrayed your trust, and I've said things that were wrong and definitely untrue."

He took a shuddering breath. "It's due to all of you that I was able to awaken my Persona," he said, a small smile forming on his face. "It's because of all of you that I was finally able to face myself. I finally realized, that, despite myself… I do give a shit… about all of you." He bowed deeply to all of them. "Please forgive my foolishness."

A tear hit the ground as he stared at the ground, waiting for their response. A few moments passed without a sound being made. He screwed his eyes shut, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill.

_Of course they wouldn't just forgive you. You've destroyed any of the trust they had in you, you goddamn-_

A hand touched his shoulder, gently pushing him upright. His eyes shot open in surprise as he straightened. The hand's owner… was Mitsuru. She had unshed tears in her eyes, but a large, genuine smile on her face. "Apology accepted." She then pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Consider us even," She whispered with a hint of humor in her tone.

With that, he broke. A sob wracked his form as he wrapped his arms around Mitsuru and finally, finally let his tears spill.

This time, however, they were tears of joy.

* * *

He wept for what felt like a couple of minutes, but Mitsuru's arms never left for a moment. Once he'd cried himself out, she pulled away from him, smiling gently. He felt a small sense of disappointment at the absence, but smiled inwardly at the feeling. He wasn't going to deny what he felt anymore.

He wiped his eyes then looked around at the SEES members. Junpei was smirking, his eyes shining happily. Akihiko had a big smile on his face, relief and joy written in his features. Yukari had tears running down her face as well, but her smile betrayed her happiness. He smiled around him at all of his friends.

The thought surprised him for a second before he nodded to himself, confirming it.

_Yeah. Friends._

Junpei stretched with a slight grimace before looking around, a big grin on his face. "So, who's hungry?"

"C'mon, Stupei!" Yukari groaned exasperatedly. "We just got our asses kicked, Minato's arm is busted, and you are worried about food?! Be considerate for once, will you?"

"Oh, come on, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said, floundering. "I realize that! I meant that we should get some food together after we get checked out, you know, as a team!"

Minato laughed in joy at the banter. He felt alive, for the first time in years.

**It won't last. You know that.**

He quashed that feeling with satisfied vindictiveness.

_Oh, hush you. You don't get a say in things anymore._

He reached up to his injured arm and began feeling his shoulder with his hand, attempting to gauge the damage. "Well," he said with a slight grunt of pain, "I think that the Media got rid of some of the damage at least. I can feel it, but it isn't too bad. Besides, I could go for some food. When you don't really eat for a month, you build up quite an appetite."

"No," Mitsuru said with a shake of her head, "You are going to the hospital and getting checked out." She glared at Junpei. "-As are the rest of us."

Junpei froze under her icy glare. "B-but Senpai…The food at the hospital sucks!"

"Oh, is that so?" Mitsuru said icily, her glare dropping a few degrees in temperature. "In that case, would you like me to force a visit, perhaps for the next week or so?"

Junpei backed away, putting his hands up in defense. "U-uh, no thanks, Senpai! I can stomach that hospital food for tonight, no problem."

"That's what I thought," Mitsuru said with a nod. A small smirk formed on her face. "Alright, let's gather the other two and get moving."

At the mention of them, Minato looked over at Natsuki and Fuuka. "Uh, Mitsuru-san… What about Natsuki?" He asked her, a worried note in his tone. "Are we going to have to explain all of this to her?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "I doubt it. The events will probably feel like a dream to her." She looked at the girl hugging Fuuka, crying onto her shoulder. "The emotions, however, will feel quite real."

It was ironic, Minato realized. He'd hated Natsuki a few hours ago, hating how she'd abused and betrayed Fuuka's trust. Now, he felt a strange form of kinship with her. He closed his eyes, a smirk on his face.

_Maybe it's 'cause we both want to be redeemed. _

"Hey, Minato!" Junpei said, suddenly punching Minato in the shoulder. Unfortunately, it was his _injured _shoulder he'd hit, the sudden, unexpected contact sending a wave of pain through Minato's body.

"God…damn it!" Minato hissed as he recoiled away from the pain.

"Oh, shit, sorry, Senpai! It was an accident!" Junpei apologized, backing away. A look of fear came over him. "Uh, are you OK?" He said in a timid voice.

"I was," Minato said, glaring at Junpei with a look of both anger and amused annoyance, "That was 'till some _dunce_ I know hit my clearly broken arm!" Junpei started to babble with incoherent apologies for a second before Minato raised his hand, cutting him off. "Look, I'll take that as my due punishment for the past month, ok? Just don't do it again please?"

Junpei began nodding so fast he looked like a bobble head. "You got it… Anyways," He pointed over his shoulder, "Mitsuru-san said I should walk you to the hospital right now to get your arm checked. You ok with that?"

"Sure," Minato said with a nod. Junpei smiled brightly before turning away. Minato watched him walk away, then turned and looked at the others. It was funny. As much as he had mistrusted them, as hard as he had tried to distance himself from them, as much as he'd mistreated and abused them… In the end, it was them who had saved him, who enabled him to see the dark path he'd been on and gave him the strength to choose a different one.

"Hey!" Junpei yelled over his shoulder. "You coming?"

"Yeah!" Minato said, taking a deep breath before taking his first steps forward into his new life.

* * *

June 9th, 2009

* * *

Yamagishi had collapsed from exhaustion soon after leaving Tartarus and the Dark Hour. She had spent nearly 10 hours in a place that increased how fatigued you became astronomically. Add in using her Persona, and all the turmoil she had been through, and her exhaustion was understandable. She would spend a few days in the hospital, while the doctors observed her to see if there were any abnormal effects.

Moriyama had fallen asleep as soon as the Dark Hour ended. She had been placed in a hospital bed to rest. She would be told that she had been found unconscious on the street, and a stranger had brought her in. She would hopefully not remember the details of the Dark Hour, but instead remember what she had felt. It would be the best for her.

Arisato's arm, surprisingly, had shown no sign of breakage on X-ray. This was odd, because he had said his arm was definitely broken at the time. He claimed this was due to his Persona's Media spell, which he said targeted major wounds. It did not, however, deal with the sprained wrist he had gotten when his Rapier had shattered. Something to do with the distinction between major and minor injuries, he said. He'd been prescribed a brace, one he would have to wear for about week.

Those three had been Mitsuru's only major concerns, the others having only relatively minor wounds due to Minato's healing. They were nothing that wouldn't heal over the next couple of days. The rest of SEES had gone to sleep already, but she was still up writing a report on the operation to give to Ikutsuki, since he'd missed out on the entire operation. She looked out the window. The sky was beginning to brighten as the sun got ready to rise. She smiled at the sight.

They had lived for another day.

Akihiko entered the hallway where Mitsuru was watching the morning sun rise into the sky. He cleared his throat, shaking Mitsuru from her thoughts. He sat down in front of her. "How're you doing?"

"Good," She said with a smile. It was true; she felt better than she had in a long while, minor cuts and bruises notwithstanding. "You?"

"Same," he replied with a smirk, "Which is odd, considering we almost died last night."

She nodded. "It _was_ rather close. If Arisato or Yamagishi hadn't woken to their Persona…" They both looked at the ground. Realizing how close it had been was sobering.

Akihiko looked up. "Anyway, I wanted to run something by you. It's about Minato's weird mood swings."

"He obviously figured out what was wrong with himself, given by how he acted last night," She said lightly. "Whatever caused his realization must have also awoken his Persona."

"Yeah, but there's something else, something that Junpei and I were discussing: You know how Ikutsuki says that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon?"

"Yes, I've heard mention of it. You think that it's connected to Minato somehow?"

"Well, we know that, at some level, Personae and Shadows are connected," Akihiko said matter-of-factly. "It's why they attack us instead of trying to eat us, after all… Anyways, here's the thing: Junpei told me that he acted just like that weird Reaper Persona that came out of him a couple of months ago."

Mitsuru froze. "When?"

"During the train operation, apparently."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Mitsuru said with a hint of anger. She sighed in resignation. It was in the past, so there was no sense getting angry about it. "So you think that this Persona was affecting him somehow?"

Akihiko nodded. "We know that Persona can sometimes be unpredictable. I think that Persona was made from his anger and distrust, you know, the side he hid from all of us. That's probably why he couldn't control it."

"I can see that, but why did it end up affecting him in that way? How did it gain that kind of power over him?"

"I have a theory: the Evoker." At Mitsuru's confused glance, he shrugged. "It breaks loose your true personality from your mind, right? Well, based on what we know about him now, he obviously didn't trust anyone to know the true him. Therefore, if someone hell-bent on hiding that side from the world uses an Evoker…"

"…It split his personality," Mitsuru said, her tone sad. After a moment's reflection, she nodded. "It fits. He seemed fine for a while. He even seemed like he was opening up for a while. Then all of a sudden, he deteriorated, withdrawing more and more." She shook her head. "What could have caused it, though?"

"I don't know," Akihiko said, shaking his head. "Maybe something happened to trigger that side of him. What could he have gone through that would make him distrust everyone that much, though?"

Mitsuru glanced at the ground. He had been going through a lot more than they had thought. She was glad that it was over… or was it? At that thought, she glanced up at Akihiko worriedly. "Do you think that he could revert back to that state if something triggers it again?"

Akihiko tilted his head in thought. "Maybe… Or maybe whatever happened to him in there re-forged his personality. I mean, he said that we're the reason why he has a Persona now, when he said he didn't before. I don't think he would have told us that if he still mistrusted us. Not to mention his new Persona is different from that one on that he summoned on the roof, though that brings up a whole other host of questions…" He shrugged. "Either way, this is all speculation. Personas are hardly an exact science, after all."

She nodded. Hopefully he would come to them for help before it happened again.

_If. If it happens. _

"Oh well," Akihiko said with a shrug, "There's no sense in dwelling on that right now. Short term; we have 2 more Persona users, both of which seem invaluable."

"True," Mitsuru said, nodding. "Arisato's ability to heal is surprising, and will be infinitely useful." She sighed. "Hopefully Yamagishi recovers soon; her power will be invaluable as well."

A smirk popped on Akihiko's face. "That eager to get back into the field, are we?"

"Tonight was a painful reminder that we, me especially, have been out of the field for too long," She said harshly. "We were lucky to survive tonight. We cannot count on being so lucky again."

"I know, I know…" Akihiko said, brushing off her harsh tone. He stretched. "Well, I'm gonna head out. I've been looking forward to this." As he stood up, an evil smirk appeared on his face, and he chuckled darkly. "Although…"

Mitsuru's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she glared at him. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing…" He said nonchalantly. "…I was just thinking of waking Minato up for some 'training'."

Her glare intensified. "He just went to sleep restfully for the first time in days, and I'd rather you not push him right now. There will be other times to get your revenge for the…dumpster diving incident."

"But I've been waiting a month and a half…" At her continued deadly stare, Akihiko sighed in resignation. "Fine..." He scowled at her playfully. "I will get my revenge soon, however, and your blatant favoritism won't stop me."

"Oh, so he's my favorite now?" She asked, smiling icily at him. "Well, in that case, let me show you what happens to those who spurn my favor!" She lunged out of her chair, attempting to wrap her hands around his throat.

Akihiko dodged her lunge with practiced ease, smiled at her with a shit-eating grin, and ran out of the room, tail between his legs.

She sighed in amusement. Akihiko was like a little brother to her. That meant that he teased her to the point of annoyance sometimes.

She turned her thoughts back towards Minato. He'd seemed so happy on the way home. For the few months that she'd known him, he'd always had a small amount of anger and sadness behind his eyes, present even before his meltdown. Now, it seemed to be almost non-existent. Instead, his eyes now burned with a fire of fierce resolve and determination. What was that resolve to do, however?

She smirked.

_I'll be happy to find out._

* * *

_The first thing he felt as he entered the expanse was the feeling of a small body crashing into his. Pharos' arms wrapped around his waist as he yelled, "You did it!" _

_Minato looked around. He hadn't seen the expanse in quite a while. He'd almost sort of missed it. After a moment, he smiled down at the boy hugging him and patted him on the head. "Hello, Pharos. What did I do, exactly?"_

_"You unlocked my gift to you," He said excitedly as he pulled away. "Not only that, but you accepted who you truly are! I wasn't sure if you'd manage to do it in time before your ordeal, but you did!"_

_"__So, my Shadow suddenly showing up in Tartarus like that… That was your gift?" Pharos nodded, causing a small smile to form on Minato's face. "Thanks, Pharos. Truly, thank you." With that, he knelt down and hugged the small boy in gratitude. After he released Pharos, a small chortle echoed from behind him, causing Minato stand and turn. His Persona, Jehuty, was floating behind him. _

_**"**_**_Hello, Master," _**_Jehuty said with a nod. The Persona's voice was heavily modulated, as if he were speaking through a filter, but it was unmistakable: The voice was an exact copy of his._

_After a moment, Minato nodded back to his Persona. "Hello, Jehuty." It felt strange, nodding to the Persona. It was almost like he was nodding to himself through a mirror. "It's nice to finally meet you."_

_Jehuty made a chuffing noise. He was laughing. "_**_I have always been a part of thyself, Master. If anything, _****_I_****_ am glad to finally meet _****_you_****_."_**

_Minato chuckled. "I guess that makes sense. Sorry it took me so long."_

_His Persona shook his head. __**"It matters not how long it took, but simply that it happened is enough."**_

_"__Huh…Thanks." Minato turned to Pharos. "So, Pharos… Why are we here today?"_

_"I just wanted to congratulate you," The boy replied with a smile. "I didn't get a chance to tell you how happy I was after you survived the first one, after all."_

_"…The first one?" Minato raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The first one of what?"_

_"…The harbingers, of course!" Pharos said matter of factly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. After a moment, he tilted his head. "Well," He acquiesced, "Technically the one _**_you _**_killed was the second…and the third…" Pharos smirked. "I think you get the point now."_

_"…You're talking about the Shadows." Pharos nodded. "What did you call them?" Minato asked confusedly. "…The harbingers? The harbingers of what, exactly?"_

_"__They're…" Pharos frowned. "…I don't exactly know. My memory is fuzzy, like yours." _

_"__Alright," Minato sighed. "Sorry for all the questions. I'm just curious, is all."_

_"It's quite alright," Pharos said with a nod. "You are a detective, after all."_

_Minato snorted. Of course he knew that. After a moment's thought, a question occurred to him. "Hey Pharos," Minato asked. "If you wanted to congratulate me, why couldn't you contact me after the train operation?" _

_At this, Pharos glared at him. "Because you let one of your extremes take hold."_

_Minato tilted his head in confusion. "One of my extremes? What do you mean?"_

_"__I mean one of the extreme sides of your personality," Pharos replied. "Specifically, the negative sides of your emotions: Your anger, distrust, and hatred. If one of your extremes takes a hold of your personality like that, I can't come here. It takes all the space."_

_After a moment trying to understand his meaning, Minato dropped it. That sentence was better off left alone for now. He went to a different train of thought. "What about Jehuty?" he asked worriedly. "Can this sort of thing happen again? The mood swings, I mean."_

_Pharos shook his head. "Not to that extreme. You can always deny and obfuscate parts of yourself, but never again to that extreme. The circumstances that allowed that to happen no longer apply to you."_

_"__What?" Minato said, raising both eyebrows in confusion. "What circumstances?"_

**_The grip of the gun felt heavy in his hand as he raised it to his head. The trigger felt like it was made of lead with how slow it moved. In the end, though, he pulled the trigger._**

_"__That's what caused it?" Minato asked, panting as the memory faded. "Using the Evoker?" _

_Pharos nodded. "It was made to break open your mind, just a bit, to let your power out. Without that power to unleash, your mind just breaks."_

_"That doesn't make any sense," Minato said, shaking his head. "If Jehuty is my Persona when my mind is whole, then what came out of me that night?"_

_Pharos paused for a moment. "Untapped power," He finally replied, "Power lying deep within you."_

_"__Wait, what?" Minato asked, shaking his head in confusion. "So there's something else, some other Persona buried inside me? What is it? How did it get there?"_

_"…I don't know," Pharos said with a frown. "That makes me scared, more than anything else."_

_That was terrifying. Still, nothing good would come of worrying about it right now. Minato smirked as he tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, that's supposed to be my line, you know."_

_"__True…" Pharos said, smirking in response. "Either way, please enjoy this newfound power. It will guide you quite well in the days and ordeals to come."_

_"__I will," Minato nodded, smiling at the boy. "Thank you again, Pharos, for helping me figure all this out. I owe you."_

_"__No, you don't," Pharos replied, shaking his head. "You can't owe me anything. I'm a figment of your imagination, remember?"_

_The sound of a bell ringing echoed faintly through the expanse. Pharos looked up at the sound, then smiled brightly at Minato. "It's time for you to wake up. I'll see you later." With that, the boy turned and walked away, the sight of him growing dimmer and dimmer as the bell rang louder and louder._

_._

_._

_._

_Edit: This probably should have taken less time, but I wanted to extend this chapter out a bit in terms of length. As such, I (obviously) moved the Pharos scene from the old chapter 6 to here. Additionally, in parity with later chapters, I've added a small introduction to Minato's Persona down below for those who don't know or don't want to look up the mythology behind the Persona. I whole-heartedly recommend reading these in the future, as they may contain hints as to the future of the character and the story as a whole. Anyways, this was still an emotional chapter for me. I originally wrote it when I was in the midst of putting my life back together, Minato's desire for forgiveness and acceptance mirroring my own quite painfully. If anything, I hope that the emotions behind it are even more evident and impactful. As always, if you liked, hated, or have criticisms with this chapter, please let me know with a review or PM. _

_–__PS- For a more accurate picture of what Minato's Persona looks like, look up Naked Jehuty from Zone of the Enders. It's identical. I don't know why. _

_Just kidding. I don't own either franchise. Just putting that out there._

_Persona introduced in this chapter: _

_Jehuty:__One of the many names of the Egyptian God known commonly as Thoth, Jehuty was the Egyptian god of Wisdom, Balance, Knowledge, and, in a lesser known role, the Moon. He is commonly represented as a man with the head of an ibis, though he was sometimes represented as a baboon. He, along with his feminine counterpart, Ma'at, was often credited as the force that held the universe together. As such, he was often thought to be a self-made god, one without whom, the other gods would not exist. In the underworld, he was instrumental in the judgement of the dead. He, along with Anubis, ran the scales that weighed the hearts of the dead against their deeds. He was also, to a lesser extent, a guide and protector for the young god Horus before his conflict with the god Set._


	6. June 9th cont - 11th

The ringing he'd heard in the expanse had turned out to just be his alarm beeping at him to wake up. A smile broke out on his face as he realized what that meant. This was the first time in 2 years that he had managed to sleep up to his alarm. It was a small victory considering he'd only gotten about 5 hours of sleep overall, but it was still enormously satisfying.

He got up out of bed and actually had to rush to get ready for school. To his surprise, when he headed downstairs, Akihiko and Mitsuru were waiting for him.

"About time..." Akihiko said with a smirk as Minato walked over to them. "I thought you were never going to get up."

"Hey, I have a lot of sleep to catch up on," He replied as the three of them walked out the door. "Around 2 whole months' worth, in fact." Despite accepting the fact that he'd come to trust them, he still didn't feel ready to share _that _with them quite yet.

Mitsuru just nodded, concern in her eyes. "Well, you have a lot more than sleep to catch up on, I'm afraid. Your classwork has obviously suffered in the past month, and your exam score was, quite frankly, terrible. I feel that if you study for a few-"

She stopped herself after glancing at Minato. His face had darkened as he realized how big a hole had been dug in his anger-filled self-isolation. Akihiko had an incredulous look on his face, as if he were saying, "Really? Is now the time?"

"Ahem," Mitsuru said, swallowing her obvious discomfort as she started again, "Either way, it is good to see you feeling better, Arisato."

Minato nodded, his face brightening again. "I feel better than I have in years… Like I'm a new man, as clichéd as that sounds."

At that, Akihiko looked at Mitsuru, who nodded back. "Well, Minato," Akihiko started, "The two of us sort of wanted to speak to you about the past two months."

Minato's eyes fell. He had been afraid of this. "Again, I can't quite express how sorry I am about-"

"I told you last night, Arisato," Mitsuru interrupted softly, "Your apology was accepted. That's all that needs to be said on the matter. Besides, that's not exactly what we wish to discuss." At Minato's confused look, she tilted her head questioningly. "Do you remember the attack on the dorm? When you summoned that reaper Persona?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I collapsed after using Yukari's Evoker and somehow, that…_thing…_came out of me. What about it?" He was then reminded of his conversation with Pharos during his dream. "Wait, you guys don't think I somehow broke my mind by using that thing, do you?"

They turned and stared at him in surprise. He snorted and smirked in amusement. Obviously, they weren't expecting him to figure that out quite so quickly. Mitsuru had an impressed look on her face. Akihiko was simply dumbfounded.

"How?" Akihiko asked after a moment. "How could you possibly have figured that out?"

_Hmm, I can't really say that I have an imaginary friend who tells me these things, can I? They just got done thinking I was crazy; I don't want to go back to that so soon._

"It makes sense," Minato said matter of factly. "Personae are obviously based off of a part of your personality, hence the name. Evokers are meant to bring that part out of you by 'breaking' your mind open, if I remember the briefing right. Therefore, if you don't have a Persona to use and you use an Evoker? Bam! Your mind just… breaks."

Mitsuru clapped lightly. "Well done. How long did it take you to figure out?

"Um… I think I only started thinking about it last night," Minato said with a shrug. "I mean, I wasn't really in the right state of mind to do it earlier..."

Akihiko shook his head in amusement. "Man, I can't believe I skipped half my training for this…"

"What?!" Minato blurted, staring in shock. Akihiko _never_ skipped training. "You... actually skipped part of your training?! For this?!"

"…Yeah," Akihiko affirmed, obviously confused by Minato's reaction. "I mean, I thought it might give you some extra closure, let you know that, well… we don't really blame you for the past 2 months. That we understand."

Dumbstruck by Akihiko's answer, Minato felt his throat tighten. "Thank you, both of you. I'm sorry I kinda ruined your morning, Akihiko."

"It's alright," he replied with a smile. "I'll do anything to try and help, even if it's not really needed. Just make sure you remember that." He patted Minato on the back. "It's good to have you back."

Minato smiled brightly… then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Years of intuition screamed danger at him. "What did you just do?"

Akihiko shifted his gaze away suspiciously. "Nothing," he said too quickly.

With a roll of his eyes, Minato shrugged off his school jacket and looked at the back. His eyes widened in surprise. "…Really?" He said incredulously, turning to look at Akihiko who was doing his best to appear small. Mitsuru attempted to hold in her giggles as Minato yanked the sign off the back of his jacket. He held up the pathetic attempt at a prank, a sad look in his eyes. "…A 'Kick Me' sign? Really, Akihiko?"

"…What?" Akihiko said, reddening in embarrassment. "It's all I could come up with on short notice!"

Unable to resist any longer, Mitsuru finally lost control and descended into a fit of giggles. Ignoring her, Minato shook his head as he crumpled the sign up and threw it in the nearest garbage can. "Dude, that's just… Look, not only is that joke extremely clichéd, but it's just…awful."

At the look of utter dismay on Minato's face, Mitsuru began laughing harder. Sparing her an amused glance, Minato continued. "Look, if you really want to get back at me, you should try and find out more about me. The key to a good prank is first finding a weakness, and then finding a way to exploit it."

He snapped his fingers and pointed at Akihiko. "The dumpster prank I pulled on you a month ago, for example. Your fan-girl trouble was a perfect weakness for me to exploit. You made it clear in the first few moments that they bothered you. All I needed to do was think of a way to exploit that fact." He smirked. "Understand what I mean?"

"How do you know so much about pranking?" Akihiko asked, slightly awed. "You don't seem like the type."

"Ahh…" Mitsuru finally came out of her fit of giggles, sighing as she calmed down. "Well, Akihiko, he uses the same principle that you typically use for analyzing an adversary."

"Kind of," Minato replied with a nod, "But it's not just about finding _a _weakness and exploiting it. A good prank is about finding the _right _weakness. If you get _too_ personal with it, you could end up really hurting the person." He shrugged. "Granted, sometimes that's what you want. You know, for if you really _hate_ the person.

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "For a friendly prank like this one, however, you want to find a weakness that is going to be annoying, but not hurtful or overly personal. That way, I won't want to kill you at an available opportunity..."

* * *

As the two teens bantered back and forth, Mitsuru simply smiled at the irony of their situation. Just yesterday, the two boys hadn't even been on speaking terms. Now it was just like they'd picked up where they'd left off. The two of them seemed to have a friendly rivalry, a simple prank having turned into a competition of who could best the other.

Still, it wasn't just Akihiko that was being affected. She slowly shook her head in amusement. She hadn't laughed that hard in… almost 2 whole years. Granted, she was rather tired right now, but seeing how offended Minato had been by Akihiko's prank had been quite hilarious. It wasn't just that, however; her heart felt like it had become almost 10 times lighter in the past 24 hours.

She hated to admit it, but she'd missed Minato during his self-imposed isolation. He probably didn't know it, but he brought a light into all of their lives, one that had been sorely missed over the past month. Now, that light was back, twice as strong as it had been before.

_How is it that, without even trying, you have become such a fixture in our lives, Arisato? It must be fate…_

* * *

Minato hit his head on the desk repeatedly, punctuating each word. "Oh...god...I...can't…do…any…more!" His hand felt like it was going to fall off if he wrote another word. Mitsuru had been right this morning, he realized bitterly: He did have an awful lot of classwork to catch up on.

He looked up at the clock. 11:02. He hit his head into his desk again, groaning in realization. He'd been at this for over 6 hours now. He quickly pushed himself away from the desk. "That's it! I'm done for tonight!" Right on cue, his stomach grumbled as it reminded him he hadn't eaten since lunch.

Sighing, he left his room and went downstairs to dig out some food. When he got down to the first floor however, he was surprised to see Yukari sitting at the table. She had a letter open in front of her, a sigh slipping from her lips while she read it.

"That from your mom?" Minato asked conversationally as he walked into the dining area.

"Ah!" Yukari exclaimed, jumping at the sound of his voice. She quickly closed the letter and hid it under the tablecloth. "Minato-kun! What are you still doing up? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Nope," Minato replied, grimacing as he sat down in the chair across from her. "I've been stuck doing make-up work since I got home. Turns out when you stop doing classwork for a month, you build up quite a backlog."

"Ah…" Yukari said with a nod. "I wondered why I didn't see you at dinner."

Irritated at having missed an opportunity to reconnect with everyone, Minato groaned. "God, I hate make-up work… Still, I guess this is my punishment for being an idiot." He shook his head and sighed. "So… you didn't really answer my question earlier."

Yukari tilted her head in confusion. "What question?"

He nodded at the tablecloth. "That letter, is it from your mom?"

Yukari's eyes hardened in anger. "No. It's not."

_Whoops…_

That was evidently a sore subject for her. Minato chose his next words carefully. "…Who is it from, if you don't mind my asking?"

She appeared to debate telling him for a moment before shrugging. "It's from my dad," She said, pulling the letter out from its hiding place. "He wrote it to be delivered after he died… It's kind of why I'm here."

Minato raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh. I see," He smiled sadly. "Well, that's a nice thing to have, I guess."

Yukari picked up on it almost immediately. "Do you have anything from your parents? I know you said you didn't remember them, but…"

He shook his head. "Nope; No memories, no keepsakes… nothing."

Yukari tilted her head in sympathy. "Do you know anything about them? I'm sure you've looked by now…"

He shook his head again. "Only their names, and that's only because they were on my birth certificate. Anything else about them beyond that doesn't exist in the public record, which doesn't make any sense. It's almost like they were wiped from existence…" He shook his head. One mystery at a time. "Anyways, that's part of why I was so obsessed with solving the mystery of the Dark Hour, to hopefully find out who they were."

Yukari frowned. "I thought that you said your grandfather raised you after your parents died. Didn't he tell you anything about them?"

"Ha!" Minato scoffed, "Hell no. My grandfather refused to even speak my father's name, and only referred to my mother once, on accident."

"Why?" Yukari asked sadly. "Why would he keep something like that from you?"

"If you knew my grandfather, that would be answer enough for you," He replied bitterly. Seeing Yukari's sad look, he shrugged. "I don't know why. He wouldn't answer my questions on the subject, and sent me away on a case for a month every time that I brought it up."

Yukari tilted her head in confusion. "Case? What do you mean?"

_Whoops. Oh, well, not like it's that much of a secret. Besides, I think I can trust her. _

"...My grandfather's name is Kyohei Shirogane," Minato said with a sigh. "He's a 2nd-generation independent detective. He took me in after my parents died, obviously. He did the same for my cousin a few years later." He snorted in derision. "Problem for him was that he had no idea how to raise a kid the first time, let alone the second. So, instead of raising us like normal kids, he decided to teach us the tools of his trade.

He took a deep breath. "For around 5 years after taking me in, I, and later, my cousin, were taught the different forms of deception and deduction needed to be a good detective. After our training was complete, he expected us to help him solve some of his cases, specifically ones based around schools or students." He grimaced. "By 'transferring' into schools that specific crimes were linked to, the two of us were able to blend in, gather information and infiltrate criminal groups without arousing any suspicion."

He gave a small sad smile. "It worked pretty damn well. It was fulfilling work, even if we saw the worst humanity had to offer on a daily basis. Hell, I even forgot about the Dark Hour for a while because of it." His face fell. "The last one I was involved in though…" He shook his head, clearing his memory of Haruya, "…It was about 2 years ago."

He shrugged. "Things went bad. I got hurt. More than that, I became disillusioned with the work. After that, I basically demanded that my grandfather help me figure out the Dark Hour. Now, here I am, 2 years later... You know the rest."

Yukari shook her head in surprise. "Wow…that's pretty intense... You mentioned a cousin did this with you…?"

"Yeah," Minato said with a smile. "Her name's Naoto. She's a few years younger than me. Her parents died in a car accident as well, about 8 years ago." He shook his head. "She can be a real pain in the ass, sometimes. She's practically a genius, but she's kind of introverted. She annoyed the shit out of me for the first few years, but we grew on each other after a while." He smiled brightly. "Hell, this one time, she-"

They were suddenly interrupted by Minato's stomach audibly growling in anger. Minato laughed embarrassedly and shook his head. "Well, I think I'm gonna have to cut that story short. If you want, I can just get some food and come back?"

She shook her head. "It's okay. I should probably go and get some sleep. It's almost the Dark Hour." She got up and headed for the staircase, but suddenly turned around. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"No, not at all," He said, raising his eyebrow. "Go right ahead."

She appeared to mull it over for a moment before shaking her head. "Never mind… It was a stupid question."

Minato stood up to look at her, shaking his head. "Yukari, I don't mind if it's a stupid question. Just ask."

She stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "I was wondering if you'd mind me sharing what you told me tonight with the others."

"…No, I don't mind," He said, blinking in confusion. "Why was that a stupid question?"

"Because I've seen what happens when people start digging where you don't want them to," She said bitterly, glaring at him.

His gut sank. So that's what this was about. "I'm trying not to be that guy anymore, Yukari," He said with a sigh. "I want to be open with you guys about who I really am; this is part of that, so I don't have a problem with it."

"Still," Yukari said, her tone lightening, "It's _your_ past…"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Do you _want_ me to share it?"

She nodded. "It was nice getting to know the real you, not just the guy who's saved my life 3 times now."

Minato rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Hey, who's counting, right? And I mean, come on, it's not like it's that interesting…"

She stared at him incredulously. "You basically just told me you have been a secret agent since you were 7." She shook her head. "That's a lot more interesting than what I was doing 10 years ago."

Minato's face fell a bit. "Not all of my stories are happy ones, Yukari. The last case I was on… Well, you saw first-hand what kind of impact it had on me."

She winced, and then gave him a sympathetic smile. "I don't expect you to tell me that story. You don't have to tell me or anyone else anything about it if you don't want to." Her eyes fell to her feet. "I just… I want you to stop hiding from us."

He lowered his gaze in thought. She wasn't pressuring him to reveal anything he didn't want to, and she seemed genuinely interested in who he was.

_Remember, you can trust them._

He looked up and nodded. "Alright, I suppose I could share a few old war stories. If you want, you can tell the others the same thing. I'll be happy to share…anything, I guess."

"…Ok," She said, smiling brightly. "Thank you for trusting me. I'll see you tomorrow, Minato-kun."

He smiled back. "Good night, Yukari."

* * *

June 10th, 2009

* * *

"En garde!" The referee shouted. Minato saluted his opponent and settled into his stance. His opponent did the same. The referee looked between each of them. "Are you ready?" He asked in French.

Minato nodded, as did his opponent. The referee raised his hand and shouted, "Allez!"

Minato leapt partway across the mat and thrust towards his opponent's right shoulder. His opponent parried, his riposte mirroring Minato's attack. Minato immediately caught the blade on his and circle parried, sending his opponent's blade straight past his shoulder and pulling him off-balance. Taking advantage of his opponent's mistake, he stepped forward into his opponent's space, sliding his blade forward. The blade bent as the tip dug into his opponent's right shoulder.

"Red scores!" The referee called. "It's 5 to 3. Minato wins the bout." Minato reached over with his right hand, still in its brace, to shake his opponent's hand. His opponent used his left. They both laughed as Minato switched hands.

"Must be awkward, having to fence with your left hand," Masato said as they walked off the mat. "You are still pretty good with it though."

Masato Sakeya was a fellow 3rd year student at Gekkoukan. He was one of the better fencers on the team, and had done his best to make Minato feel welcome when he'd joined the team last month. Surprisingly, rather than press Minato about why he'd been gone so long, he'd simply welcomed Minato back, even offering to be his sparring partner for the day.

"It's not as awkward as you might think," Minato replied, shaking his head. "I'm ambidextrous, so it's not too hard to switch my fighting style, but the foot work is what gets me. I can't always be as nimble with my feet when I fight left-handed."

"Understandable," Masato said with a nod. "Still, you kicked my ass. That mirror matchup is painful: my brain can't handle it." He laughed. "You know, the last time that I fenced with a lefty was back when I was still a first-year. The captain of the team at the time was a lefty, one of the best fencers I've ever seen. "

Minato raised his eyebrow. "Oh? I thought that Mitsuru-san was _the _best you've ever seen."

Masato nodded. "That's true now, but back then? He was. He swept the floor with me, her, and everyone else on the team." He scowled. "Still, can't say that I miss the bastard, not after what he did to-" He cut himself off as he realized what he was saying. A guilty look formed on his face. "Um… Forget I said anything."

Minato raised an eyebrow, his intuition telling him to push. "Wait, what did he do?"

Masato grimaced. "It's not really my place to tell…" He stared at Minato for a moment before tilting his head in acknowledgement. "…Well, I mean you are part of the team and all…" He looked around, making sure that no one could hear him. He bent close to whisper to Minato. "Captain Jubei was one charming bastard. Back in the day, he had a fan club pretty much as big as Akihiko-san's if you can believe that. Could honestly have had any girl he wanted."

He smirked with a hint of anger. "One day, though, he gets this fiery red head on his fencing team. She is smart, focused, has a killer body, and is a fast study. He knew he had to have her. She was pretty chilly to him in response though, damn right _icy._"

Minato's eyes widened as he realized who they were talking about. "Mitsuru-san?"

Masato nodded. "Yup, he fell for our fearless leader. Kirijo-san rejected his advances pretty strongly however, always threatening to 'execute' him if he didn't stop his indecency. Still, he never gave up. One day though, she took him up on his offer, probably just in order to get him to shut up." He shook his head. "And then something happened that none of us saw coming: they actually got together."

Minato's gut turned in jealousy, but he held himself back.

_It's in the past, Minato. This story doesn't sound like it has a happy ending. It doesn't matter, anyways. She's not yours, and wouldn't even consider it after what you did. Not in a million years._

"A few months later and she ended up falling for him pretty hard," Masato continued. "So much so, that she went to her father to ask if he would consent to a _marriage_ between them." Minato's eyes widened again, and Masato nodded. "She was dead serious about it."

"Wait," Minato interrupted, "How in the hell do you know she asked him that?"

Masato's lip curled in anger. "The bastard didn't really try to keep it a secret when he rejected her. Practically screamed it when she told him."

"He did what?!" Minato said, outrage burning within him.

Masato nodded, fury blazing in his eyes. "When she said that her father had agreed and that they could marry, he went ballistic. Screamed at her about how he wasn't going to marry anyone, _especially_ her. Said that her father could go screw himself, right to her face."

"But why?" Minato asked, his face twisting in fury. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he was a _coward_ who couldn't face _reality_."

If Mitsuru's tone had been any colder, she'd have frozen him to the spot. Minato winced as he turned towards her. The glare she gave him was ice cold, but there was real hurt and anger blazing underneath. "If you two are quite finished," she bit out, "Others would like to use the mat."

Masato's face twisted in fear as he backed off the mat, bowing deeply in apology. Minato just stared back at her. Anger at this man who had _dared _hurt her rolled through him, but regret at his own actions tempered it. "Mitsuru-san," He started, "I-"

"Save the apologies for a time when I can stand to look at you, Arisato," She said icily. "Now is not that time."

She brushed past him without another word. He felt a large amount of regret at betraying her trust _again_, but anger for what Mitsuru had gone through burned through it. No one should have to go through that kind of betrayal.

He shook his head as his regret swallowed his anger. Only a day had gone by and he'd already lost her trust again, only this time he didn't think he'd get it back. That kind of pain was not easy to deal with, and having someone you barely knew learn about it secondhand didn't engender trust towards them.

The thing was… he understood her pain, all too well.

A memory of Haruya flashed across his mind at the thought. Surprisingly, it didn't cause him as much pain as he expected. His story was similar, but the end result had been much different. He grimaced as regret, anger, and hatred built up in his stomach. He hated feeling like this. He just wished he could get rid of these memories…

He shook his head. No, that was the coward's way out. He knew what she had done to him. It had happened, and just because it was in the past didn't mean he could just forget it. Ignoring the pain it had given him had shaped his life and not for the better. He couldn't deny it. Now, he refused to let it dictate his life and relationships anymore.

If Mitsuru was ever going to trust him again, she needed to _know_ he understood. In order for that to happen, he needed to break a rule he never thought he would.

He was going to share his darkest secret.

* * *

Mitsuru's hurt and anger had not dissipated much since the afternoon, still feeling betrayed by Minato. How dare he go rooting around in her past? This, after how forgiving she had been of his transgressions? After she had done her best to put everything he'd done behind them, despite every nerve in her body screaming at her not to?

She felt the acceleration of the bike calm her nerves as she rounded the corner to the dorm. Parking the bike in the alley behind the dorm, she took off her helmet and sighed. The bike really calmed her. It was like a gateway to a place where the Dark Hour didn't matter, where her obligations to others were not weighing her down. The feeling always passed after she turned it off, however. The obligations were always there, and the weight was stifling.

She felt a pang of loneliness flow through her. Sometimes, she wished she had someone to share the load with. She shook her head. No one would want that type of responsibility. Jubei hadn't, after all. She felt like she was destined to die unloved, sometimes.

She shook it off. That was a defeatist attitude, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Besides, she would be married off before too much longer, and it wouldn't matter what she thought at that point. She just hoped that she would come to love her future husband, like her mother before her.

She looked up at the dorm before sliding off the bike. It was her last year of freedom. She would enjoy it while it lasted, no matter what happened.

As she walked into the dorm, however, she saw Minato sitting in the lounge, reading a textbook. A pang of renewed anger ran through her at the sight of the blue-haired teen. "What are you doing up, Arisato?" She asked harshly, causing the teen to jump. "You should be in bed."

He put down his book, and stood up, that fire of his burning brightly in his eyes. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior today," He said confidently. "It was wrong of me to dig into your past like that, particularly since you have done me the courtesy of not digging into mine." He lowered his eyes. "Especially when I gave you cause to…" He shook his head and bowed deeply. "I'm very sorry."

She stared at the teen curiously. She had anticipated an apology, but hadn't thought she'd seriously consider accepting it. She thought about it logically. She'd known that Masato had been the one to bring it up, and Minato had simply been curious about something a classmate had said. She would hardly have been able to stop herself, given the same situation. She sighed and nodded. "…Alright. I accept your apology, Arisato."

A small smile lit up his face. "Thank you, Mitsuru-san." She nodded and turned to leave. "Um… Mitsuru-san?"

She stopped and turned back to him, eyebrow raised. His eyes were cast downward, and his fists were clenched, knuckles white with tension. "I…I know…what it's like…" He stammered out.

She tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

He finally looked up at her, the pain in his eyes as deep as an ocean. What he was trying to tell her was hard for him, that much was certain. He swallowed. "I...know what it's like…to be betrayed by someone you love."

Her eyes widened in surprise. He gave her a pleading look. "C-Can you sit with me for a moment? I…don't know if I will ever be able to get this out again, so please... just hear me out."

Stunned, she nodded and walked over to sit in the chair across from him. He sat down and leaned forward, hands in his lap. "…Has Yukari shared the story about me and my grandfather with you yet?"

She shook her head. He had told Yukari about his past? A small amount of jealousy tore through her before she quashed it.

"Ok then," He said with a nod, "The short version. My Grandfather's name is Kyohei Shirogane."

"Shirogane…" She said thoughtfully. She'd thought the name had sounded familiar, when she'd seen it on his background sheet.

"He's also known to the world by the moniker, 'The Iron Detective'.

She inhaled sharply as the pieces began to fall into place. "You're related to _that_ Shirogane?"

"Yeah," He said with a nod. "Anyway, long story short, after taking me in, he trained me to be a detective and spy, and sent me to go undercover at schools that were connected with certain crimes, you know, to acquire information and evidence relevant to the case he'd be working on. I agreed to do this in exchange for his promise that he would help me investigate the Dark Hour, one day."

"Well, that was all up until 2 years ago." He paused a moment, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. "…It was a serial kidnapping case. This guy had been kidnapping boys that came from rich families from private schools all around the country and ransoming them off. If the families paid, then they got the location of their kid 2 days after the money was transferred. If not…"

He shuddered. "They haven't found all of them, but they have found a few." He glanced up at her, sadness and fear in his eyes. "He just left them there to die."

She lowered her eyes in sympathy. "My god…"

Giving her a moment to process, he took a breath and continued. "Anyway, we interviewed a few of the survivors, hoping they could give us a lead. One thing stood out in all of their testimonies." He snorted derisively. "Apparently, the perp had a daughter."

"A daughter?" Mitsuru asked, eyes widening in surprise.

He nodded. "She was being forced to help her father with his schemes, or at least that's what they all said. She was the bait that lured them to him in the first place, using excuses like 'private' study groups or promising to go on dates with them, you know, shit like that. If only they really knew…"

He shook himself and continued. "So we managed to find out the girl's latest name and school by running a sketch of what she looked like through facial recognition and cross-referencing it through all of the school databases. Her latest name was Haruya Itsoko, at a small private academy located in the country. I was quickly 'transferred' in to get close to her, and help locate her father."

Mitsuru shook her head in confusion. "If you found the girl, then why didn't you just arrest her?"

He shook his head. "We would have, except we had nothing on the father except his voice. No ID, no picture, nothing. None of the witnesses ever saw him, only the daughter. Besides, she was apparently the one that took care of them, brought them food, water, blankets, even kept them company. She always expressed regret at what she had done to them, and pleaded with them to try and convince their parents to pay whenever they were allowed to talk."

He continued. "Anyway, I got there and presented myself to her as a charming young transfer student."

"I see where this is going," She said with a small smirk. "She rejected you immediately, didn't she?"

"Yup," He said, smiling lightly. "Called me a loser and walked away. Quite harsh on a 14 year old's ego."

Smirking lightly, Mitsuru tilted her head. "So what did you do?"

He shook his head. "I just kept trying. Eventually she took pity and said yes to a date."

Mitsuru paled. That sounded familiar. Minato noticed the change, leaning forward. "I'm sorry. I…"

She shook her head. "It's alright. Continue."

After a moment, he nodded. "Well, the personality that I had put together based on the previous victims in order to convince her to trust me... It wasn't working. I ended up having to improvise to get anywhere with her." He grimaced. "I… started to fuse parts of myself into my character, and she responded well to it. Eventually, after a month or so, it got to the point where it _was_ me courting her."

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "You _fell_ for her?"

He nodded. "Hard. She was smart, kind, everything the witnesses had said she was, and more. With every lie that fell away, I felt more and more…connected to her. I felt…alive. I'd never felt like that before. I started to view her less and less as a target, and more like a…" He trailed off, averting his eyes.

"…A lover," She stated, finishing for him.

He nodded. "Eventually, I couldn't handle trying to keep the lies straight. One night, I told her everything: my name, my objective… why I was there."

"Then she left you?"

"No," He replied, his voice cracking, "But I wish she had. No, she _accepted_ it. She started to cry on my shoulder, saying that she was so happy, that she could rely on me to free her, and that... that she loved me."

He shook his head as his eyes teared up. "I fell for it like a _fool_. She and I made plans to run away; from the case, from my grandfather and her father, everything. We made a plan to meet up that night at a special place." The tears started to fall. "_Her father _was there waiting for me."

Mitsuru gasped. "My god…"

"I-I don't remember much from then on," He stuttered. "Time gets…kinda w-weird when you don't see the sun for a while. I do remember _her_, though."

He opened his eyes and looked straight at her. A furious hatred burned within, even as tears ran freely from them. "She came in and _taunted_ me. She laughed and talked about how pathetic I looked, how easy I was to fool since, 'we were being honest with each other'. Then she told me: _She _was the one who came up with the idea to start kidnapping kids and holding them for ransom. She was the mastermind, not her father. He was _her _accomplice."

Mitsuru's eyes pricked as tears of horror formed. "Oh, god, Arisato… I'm so sorry…"

He let out a pained sob, before shaking his head and wiping his tears away. "My grandfather paid them the ransom," He said angrily. "He paid 2 million yen to them for my life. After she had gotten the money, she came in to _gloat,_ saying that I was more valuable than any other guy at that school, and that she appreciated me seeking _her _out. Made it so much easier, she said. Then, she kissed me on the cheek and walked out, leaving me there."

His lip curled in anger. "I knew from the moment she left that room that I wasn't going to be found alive. The only reason she had to tell me the truth... was if I wasn't going to live to tell anyone. Sure enough, two days passed and no one showed. On the 3rd day, I resigned myself to my fate and waited to die in that room. Luckily for me, that was when the police showed up."

He wiped the tears from his eyes, and continued. "When the police found me in that room, I had been missing for a grand total of 3 weeks. I was severely dehydrated. I'd lost about 10 pounds. I had a broken hand due to an escape attempt gone wrong."

He took a shuddering breath. "When I regained consciousness a day later, I broke out of the hospital I was in. I went the house she had been staying at, and found it abandoned. I searched it for clues, but found nothing. Any semblance of sanity I still had at that point evaporated. I lost it completely. I burned the house to the ground in a fit of rage, but it did nothing to satisfy me. I just wanted to find them…to punish them… But they were long gone."

He looked at the ground. "My grandfather was pissed when I told him what happened. He told me that I was a disgrace to my mother's name, to my family's name, and that I had disappointed and failed him. I lashed out. Told him that if I disappointed him so much by acting like a person with feelings instead of the robot he wanted me to be, then I should go be with Mom and Dad after all."

Mitsuru wiped her eyes as tears fell. She leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Arisato, I…"

He looked up at her, a small smile on his tear-stained face. "My grandfather slapped me, told me he would help me with the secret hour, and told me to take a sabbatical, to rest and focus on my studies. He would call me when he had something." He shook his head. "I finally got what I wanted out of him. All it took was nearly dying, I suppose. Anyways, 2 years later, he calls and says to get on a train to Iwatodai."

"What?" Mitsuru said, surprised. "How did he know?"

"I wish I knew," Minato said with a shrug, wiping his eyes. "He has an unfortunate habit of telling people only what he feels they need to be told." His smile grew. "Still, I can't complain. I was a broken man when I came here. Meeting you guys…" He snorted disbelievingly. "Somehow, you guys… fixed me."

Mitsuru stood up, walked around the coffee table and gave him a hug. "Thank you for trusting me with this."

After a moment, he pulled away, semi-reluctantly. "Hey," He said with a shrug, "I figured that I owed you for this afternoon and all."

"My pain is not nearly as bad as that, Arisato," She replied vehemently. "It's a crime to even call it close."

"I don't know about that," He said as he stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, looking straight into her eyes. "If there's one thing I know, it's that pain doesn't care how bad or inconsequential the event that caused it is; it's still pain. It still hurts. That Jubei guy hurt you, I can see that much." He smiled softly. "I just wanted to let you know that I know how it feels, and that you can trust me… like I trust you."

She stared back into his ocean-blue eyes, her heart starting to beat faster each second their eyes connected. After a long moment, he took his hand off her shoulder and shoved it into his pocket. "So, uh… yeah…" He turned his head away, breaking eye contact, and began rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Anyway, it's late. I should get to bed."

She blinked as she regained control of her faculties. "Uh… yes. O-Of course." She gave him a small smile. "Again, thank you for trusting me with this." Before he could turn away, she asked curiously, "…Why _did_ you decide to tell me this?"

He tilted his head in thought. "…I guess I got tired of carrying that around with me wherever I went," He said after a moment. "It's been defining me a long time, dictating my life and the relationships I make. I don't want the same kind of thing that happened to me, to happen to you." He sighed. "So I guess… it was to let you know that I understood, and that I'm here for you... that you aren't alone."

He grinned at her. "After all, something like that _is_ pretty heavy. It would be better to share the load, especially with someone who understands, right?"

Her heart stopped. She could barely breathe.

He understood. He really understood.

After a moment, he shrugged and chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Heh-heh, that sounded better in my head. Pretty corny, huh? Ah, well… Good night, Mitsuru-san."

He turned to walk upstairs. A sense of panic went through her at the sight of him retreating.

_He needs to know. He needs to know how much that means to me. Right now._

"Minato-san?"

He turned back. "Yeah?"

She smiled brightly at him, a tear running down her face. "Call me Mitsuru… when it's just you and me. Ok?"

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he began smiling back at her, just as brightly. "…Ok," He said after another moment. "But only if you call me Minato."

"Deal," She said with a nod. A giddy, happy feeling ran through her. "Good night… Minato."

The fire in his eyes flared up at the sound of his name from her lips. "Likewise… Mitsuru."

* * *

June 11th, 2009

* * *

He was running late. Minato had been giddy and full of energy all night, his conversation with Mitsuru repeating over and over in his head. He had felt liberated, sharing that story with her. Unfortunately, that meant he had fallen asleep late, and as a consequence, had over-slept his alarm. He burst out of his dorm room to see Junpei rushing out of his room as well. Junpei turned to him, a small grimace on his face. "Oh, you're running late too, senpai? Well, let's go, the last train is coming in a few minutes!"

The two teens ran out of the dorm together. A few minutes later, they ran through the doors of the train right before they closed. The two of them sat down next to each other, panting and sweating. Junpei looked over at him. "Huh…You are…almost…never late…" He said, huffing and puffing. "What…was the deal today, Minato?"

Minato shook his head then let it hang as he tried to catch his breath. "Ugh…I…got to sleep…late…Was…thinking about…some stuff…"

Junpei swallowed air for a few moments before nodding, a strange grin on his face. "Ok, I think I get it. No need to explain further."

"What?" Minato asked confusedly before glaring at Junpei, catching his implication. "Not like that, Stupei. I just had some stuff I talked to Mitsuru-san about I was thinking about…" Junpei's grin widened at that, causing Minato's glare to intensify. "I swear to god, Junpei, if you don't get that stupid look off your face…"

After a moment, Junpei laughed. "Dude, chill out! It's ok. I know that you wouldn't do anything like that…" His tone turned suggestive. "At least not yet…"

At that, Minato looked back at Junpei, who was bouncing his eyebrows up and down suggestively. Snorting in amusement, Minato rubbed his eyes in mock exasperation. "Why? What did I do to be stuck with you on this train?"

Junpei laughed. "You slept in," He said, patting Minato on the back, "That's what you did."

"Oh, yeah…" Minato deadpanned.

A comfortable silence fell over the two for a moment before Junpei cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah… Minato?"

"Yeah, Junpei?"

Junpei's eyes became downcast. "Um, I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"What?" Minato raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What for?"

Junpei looked at the ground. "I'm sorry I treated you like crap while you were going through that rough period. You needed our help, and I just…" He shook his head. "Anyway, sorry about that."

Minato just stared back at Junpei incredulously. "…Are you an idiot or something?"

Junpei's face twisted in anger. "Wow, way to make a guy feel accepted. Good going, _senpai_."

"Sorry," Minato said with a chuckle. "Honestly though, you have nothing to be sorry for, Junpei! Anything that you did during that time, I deserved it. You guys were there, just waiting to help me, and I just ignored it and continued pushing you guys away and treating you like crap. Honestly, if I ever start doing that again, you have every right to come and kick my ass."

A smile crept on Junpei's face. "Really?"

"Hmm…" Minato said good-naturedly, "Well…you can certainly try."

Junpei laughed. "Alright, I'll hold you to that."

"I'm counting on it," Minato said with a smile. "Now, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Junpei nodded. "Um, sure. What's up?"

"Why _did _you feel like not helping me was your fault?" At that, Junpei's face fell, twisting into a combination of rage and sorrow. Minato raised his hands in surrender. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too."

After a moment, Junpei closed his eyes and sighed. "No, it's ok... It's just complicated."

A bell rung over the PA as the train pulled up to the station, the doors opening with a hiss. Junpei sighed again. "Look, I can't tell you right now, but…if you want to get some lunch together today, I'll be able to tell you then. Ok?"

"Ok…" Minato said reluctantly. He shook his head. "Junpei, you really don't have to. I'm okay with not knowing if it's too personal."

"Nah, it's ok," Junpei said with a small smile. "You showed me what happens when you keep your pain bottled up inside for too long. Maybe it's time I let someone else know."

"…Ok," Minato replied, "I'll be that someone for you."

"Great!" Junpei said as he stood up. "I'm counting on you…Boss."

Junpei started walking away, Minato staring after him for a moment... before he realized where he was. Minato barely managed to get off the train in time, sliding between the doors as they slid shut. He ran to catch up to Junpei, who started laughing at him. Minato gave him a glare and a small hit on the arm before they started walking towards the school.

* * *

He was nervous. That much would have been obvious to anyone by the way Junpei was both chewing his nails and pacing back and forth. He had never shared this part of himself with _anyone_. To share it with someone he had barely known for 2 months? He shook his head. He must be crazy. He turned at the sound of footsteps descending down the stairs.

It was Minato. Junpei gave him a small smile. "Hey, Senpai… Um, what do you wanna get to eat?"

Minato thought about it for a moment, then brightened. "Ooh, Takoyaki. I love me some takoyaki."

Junpei chuckled. "Ok. Sounds good."

After getting their food, they sat down under the persimmon tree in the hallway between the gym and the main building. As they ate, Junpei got more and more nervous.

_Why isn't he saying anything? _

After a few minutes of silence, Junpei finally couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, food forgotten, and started pacing again. Minato raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Hey, you're supposed to exercise _after_ you eat your food, not during."

He didn't laugh, instead turning on Minato. "Why aren't you saying anything?" He said, his voice trembling. "Aren't you supposed to be asking me questions about this stuff you wanna know?"

Minato shook his head. "No. Like I said, it's up to you if you want to talk about it or not. I can't force you. It would defeat the purpose."

Junpei's jaw slackened in realization. "I see… Alright… Where to start…?" He took a deep breath. "Ok. I wanted to help you because I thought you didn't need anyone when I first met you."

At Minato's confused look, he continued. "A day after I met you, you came into Tartarus and saved our bacon… without a Persona. A week later, you basically learned how to fight without one." He smiled. "You didn't need anyone else to tell you how good you were, you just were. Then when you lost it, I just acted how I always do, instead of thinking about you. I was thinking that you still didn't need anyone. I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Wait, what did you mean, you 'acted like you always do'?" Minato asked.

His eyes widened before he sighed, shaking his head. "...My dad is an alcoholic. He just drinks and drinks… and one little thing can set him off. We fought all the time. When you lost it like that… I was reminded of him."

Minato winced in sympathy. "Oh, god, Junpei…"

Junpei laughed bitterly. "I know, right? He's a deadbeat, never doing anything except drinking. When I got invited to the dorm, I thought that I had it made. Then I met you. You were arrogant, scary, and a dick, 5 minutes after I met you. The next time I met up with you, you chewed me out. I thought to myself, 'This guy is just like my dad.'"

"Junpei, I…"

"But," Junpei interrupted, "then you came and apologized to me, and I knew immediately that you weren't like him." Junpei gave him a sad smile. "…I've _never _had anyone apologize to me for something like that before."

Minato's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded. "Everyone I know always just called me stupid or dumb whenever I messed up. I got good at hiding how much it hurt. But then you came up to me and basically said, 'You messed up, but so did I. I don't blame you for it. Make sure you do better next time. I'm counting on you.'" He shook his head. "That was the first time anyone had really done that for me."

"Look," Minato said with a smile, "I know that you probably already know this, but you are a hell of a fighter. I also think that you're smart, deceptively so. You just need someone to give you a hug and a kick in the ass… figuratively speaking, of course."

"I dunno about that," Junpei said with a chuckle, "But thanks for saying it."

Minato nodded. "You know, you still didn't answer my question. I understand feeling bad about not being able to help me, but why did you feel like it was your fault that you couldn't help with my mood problems?"

Junpei rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, it's…kinda embarrassing."

"It's ok." Minato stood up and placed a hand on Junpei's shoulder. "I promise I won't laugh."

"Uhm, I…" Junpei looked at the ground. "I… wanted to be a hero to you…like you were to me…"

"Junpei… you were." Junpei's eyes snapped up. Minato had a smirk on his face. "If you guys hadn't been around for me to realize what an asshole I was being," he explained, "I would have been lost."

"I…I was?"

Minato nodded. "Yup, and I expect you to keep it up. But not just for me or for the rest of the team… I want you to try being the hero for your dad too."

"What?" Junpei's face twisted in disgust. "Why?"

"Someone doesn't just decide to become an alcoholic, Junpei," Minato explained. "Your dad is in pain… Over what, I don't know. Either way, you should be there for him, even if he doesn't want you there. Sound familiar?"

Junpei's eyes widened before lowering them to the ground. "Yeah, I got you… Alright, I'll try."

"That's all I ask, Junpei," He said, patting Junpei's shoulder. "It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow, but you should check up on him from time to time, let him know how things are going. If you let him know that you want him in your life, he'll get the hint eventually."

Junpei wiped a tear from his eye. "Right… Ok. I can do that for you, boss."

Minato smiled at the new nickname. "Why, 'boss?'"

"Cause you hate 'senpai'," Junpei replied with a smirk, "And 'buddy' doesn't feel right. 'Leader' is too formal and…ugh. 'Boss' sounds about right though."

"Well… thanks," Minato replied with a smile. "It means a lot, Junpei."

"No problem, boss!"

The bell for the end of Lunch rang. "Well, thanks for the talk, Boss," Junpei said with a smile. "I'll see you later." With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait, Junpei!" Minato called after him. "How does 'Bro' sound to you?"

Junpei turned around and grimaced. "God, no. Do I look like a dork?"

Minato laughed before turning to pick up their trash. On his way back to class, a smile broke out on his face.

_A hero, huh? Never thought of myself that way. Well, if it makes Junpei feel better, I'll be that hero for him. I'll be that hero for all of them._

_._

_._

_._

**_EDIT AN: Well, this one was interesting. I stripped out a bunch of stuff to make it flow better, and it ended up being just as long, if not longer in the total words department... ignoring what I'm writing here, of course. Hopefully the chapter feels better now. The next few chapters will start to have certain parts go missing from them as I try to improve the flow of the story as a whole. As always, if you have questions, concerns, or if you just like the chapter, send me a PM or leave a review! Hope to see you in the next chapter! - Dr. Ninja_**


	7. June 11th cont - 20th

When Minato arrived back at the dorm later that evening, he was surprised to see Fuuka in the lobby, speaking to Akihiko and Mitsuru. "So, no abnormalities or issues?" Mitsuru asked conversationally.

Fuuka shook her head at Mitsuru's question. "No. The d-doctors couldn't find anything wrong, apart from exhaustion a-and minor dehydration."

"Good." Akihiko said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. No one has ever been in there for that long before. We didn't know what to expect."

At that point, Mitsuru noticed Minato and waved him over. Walking over to them, Minato nodded to Akihiko and smiled at Fuuka. "Hello Fuuka-san. I'm glad to see you're ok. I'm Minato Arisato."

"H-Hello Minato-san," Fuuka replied timidly, "I am glad to see you alright as well. H-How's your arm?"

He showed her the brace on his right hand. "The arm's fine, just sore, but my wrist was sprained. I have to wear this thing for another couple of days, but then I should be good as new."

"That's good…" She said, her smile disappearing as she looked down at the ground, seemingly troubled by something.

Minato frowned. "What's wrong, Fuuka-san?"

She shuffled her feet nervously. "U-Um…In that lobby, when you showed up… there were two of you…?"

Minato froze for a second. He'd forgotten about that. _That_ was going to be a bitch to explain. "Yeah…" he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "About that…"

"I have questions about that myself," Mitsuru jumped in, "but we can save that for the meeting tonight."

Minato looked at her in confusion. "We're meeting tonight?" He then looked at Fuuka before snapping his fingers in realization. "Oh, right!"

"Well, the rest should be here soon," Mitsuru said, shaking her head in amusement. "Shall we adjourn to the 4th floor?"

The three teens nodded in agreement and started up the stairs together. Minato's gut twisted anxiously as he pondered how he was possibly going to tell them about his Shadow.

_Fuuka's gonna have a hard enough time dealing with the revelations about the Dark Hour and the Shadows; I hate to think what my issue is gonna do on top of that. Still…_

He glanced over at the teal haired girl. Despite her natural timidity when speaking, she actually seemed rather strong-willed. She'd survived over 10 hours in Tartarus with no backup and with no way to defend herself. She appeared to have known what to do with an Evoker instinctually, summoning her Persona without any difficulties whatsoever. She had been instrumental in providing victory during the fight after, as well.

There was also the way she'd dealt with her bully. When Natsuki had broken down in front of her, she had forgiven Natsuki without a second thought, showing a quiet strength. Even now, she appeared to be taking the things she'd learned that night in stride, not once letting it slow her down.

_Hmm, on second thought, maybe she'll be ok…_

* * *

Once the four teens had settled into the command room with Ikutsuki, the rest of SEES had showed up fairly quickly, Junpei being the last one in. He had a sad expression on his face, but when he saw Minato staring at him, he gave him a small smile and a thumbs up.

_Did he go to see his dad? Is that why he's like this? I guess when he gets his mind set on something…_

Suddenly, Ikutsuki started, shaking him from his thoughts. "So, this delightful young lady is Fuuka Yamagishi?" He asked as he looked at Fuuka. "A pleasure to meet you, my dear; My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm chairman of the board for Gekkoukan High, and I am also 'their' advisor on 'club' matters."

Fuuka blushed at the extravagant greeting and stood up to bow. "H-hello, Ikutsuki-san."

Ikutsuki chuckled. "There is no need to be so formal, my dear. I'd hate to _bow _to any expectations with you."

Minato groaned and rubbed his hand down his face in exasperation. He remembered why he had skipped the last couple of meetings.

"And it's good to see you as well, Minato-kun," Ikutsuki said with a chuckle. "I was worried about you when you didn't show up to the last few meetings. Akihiko said something about being sick…?"

Minato tilted his head in confusion. Sick? He looked at Akihiko, who looked at him pointedly. He quickly understood his meaning: they'd covered for him. If they'd told Ikutsuki the real reason they hadn't been to Tartarus in 2 months, the Chairman probably wouldn't have hesitated to kick him off the team. He smiled. Even in the midst of his tantrum, they hadn't given up on him.

"Minato-kun?"

Shaking his head, he quickly nodded to Ikutsuki. "Uh, yes… It was a stomach virus. I'm fine now though. Thanks for the concern."

"Of course. I'm glad you're feeling better," He replied before clearing his throat. "Now then, I've read Mitsuru's report on the situation, and I would like to formally apologize to you all for being indisposed during your last operation. A complication came up and I had to leave rather urgently."

He gave them all a wide smile. "However, I am glad that you all were able to accomplish your objective in spite of this and that you are all ok." He glanced at Minato's brace. "Well… relatively speaking. Now, before we debrief on the operation, there one last issue we must discuss: The recruitment of a potential new member."

Mitsuru nodded, and stood up. Before she could speak, however, Minato raised his hand. She looked at him amusedly. "Yes, Arisato?"

"Can I do the speech this time?" He asked childishly. "Pretty please?"

She chuckled and sighed as she sat back down. "…Alright."

Minato smiled at her before he turned and looked at Fuuka. "So, Fuuka-san… Would you believe me if I told you that there is a secret 25th hour of the day, hidden at the stroke of midnight?"

To her credit, she simply looked at him, confused. "Um…Yes?"

"Thought so," He said, smiling at her reaction. "What next…? Hmm, well, you kind of already experienced the party piece of the Dark Hour, and the problem that it poses…"

She frowned. "You mean that strange tower, and those creatures that almost killed us?"

"As well as the power that you have within you," He said with a nod, "The same power that let you stand up to those monsters."

"You mean…Lucia?"

"Exactly," he said, impressed. She was quick. "We call that power Persona. It is a part of you, and it is something that our enemy fears."

Fuuka frowned again at the mention of an enemy. "Those creatures…"

He nodded. "We call them Shadows. They seek to feed on human emotion. If you are caught in the Dark Hour and you don't have a Persona? They hunt you down and feast on your mind. If you don't believe me, you can see the effects of their predation first hand."

He pointed to the newspaper that Ikutsuki had brought with him. A picture of an Apathy Syndrome sufferer was on the front page, and the headline read; **"****_Lost continue to grow in number; scientists stumped as to cause._****"**

She gasped in realization. "…The Lost? These Shadows… they're what's affecting them?"

"Exactly," Minato said with a nod. "Now, as for who we are: We are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short, a 'school club' investigating the Dark Hour. We are investigating why the Shadows are hunting humans, and how to get rid of them permanently. We are also looking into the origins of Tartarus, the tower that we found you in."

"Ok…" She said with a nod. "I think I understand. Why tell me all this, though? Do you want me to join you?"

Minato began to nod, but Yukari jumped in. "Well, yeah, but we don't want to pressure you. We understand if it's too much right-"

"I'll do it," Fuuka said confidently. "I'll join."

Yukari frowned. "But-"

Fuuka cut her off again. "I want to help, Yukari-san. What you all do is extremely dangerous; I saw as much. If I can help prevent that kind of thing from happening to you guys again, then I'll gladly join." She looked around at all of the SEES members. "You all came looking for me, when none of you even knew who I was." She looked down at the ground. "I want to help repay the favor…"

After a moment, Yukari shook her head. "You know, if you join, you'll have to live here at the dorm with us. You won't be able to stay at home."

Surprisingly, Fuuka brightened a bit at that news. "That's fine. I'd rather live here than at home anyway."

Having been shot down at every turn, Yukari's face tightened in frustration. Minato glanced at her in concern. This was strange. She hadn't brought up any of these concerns at _his_ meeting. She seemed determined to deter Fuuka from joining any way she could.

_Something is definitely bothering her._

Oblivious to Yukari's frustration, Mitsuru smiled and pulled out a silver case from the side of the sofa. "Welcome to SEES, Yamagishi," She said, placing the case down in front of her and opening it. "I'll have the school talk to your parents and make the arrangements for your move to the dorm."

Fuuka glanced down at the Evoker and the armband inside the case before looking up and nodding at Mitsuru. "Thank you, Mitsuru-senpai. I'll do my best."

"Welcome to the team, Fuuka-chan," Ikutsuki said with a smile. "Now, for the debriefing: Mitsuru's report on the operation was…interesting, to say the least." He turned to Akihiko. "She mentioned that you had a theory about these powerful Shadows?"

"If I remember correctly, you said that the research showed that the Shadows can be affected by the phases of the moon," Akihiko said matter-of-factly. "Something that _I've_ noticed is that all of the attacks of these powerful Shadows… they all coincided with a full moon."

"Hmm…" Ikutsuki nodded in thought. "That is interesting…"

Junpei smirked. "Kinda makes 'em like werewolves then, huh?"

"Yeah," Minato replied with a chuckle, "Except werewolves don't try to stab you with 18 different knives or smash you into paste. They just try to give you a couple of love bites." He shrugged. "They're like big puppy dogs in comparison."

"Well, it's an interesting theory you have, to say the least…" Ikutsuki said, interrupting their banter, "One definitely worth investigating. As a wise man I knew once said to me; 'once is an occasion, twice is a coincidence-'"

"…Thrice is a pattern." Minato finished instinctually. All went quiet as Minato turned and glared at Ikutsuki, the man freezing in realization of what he had just revealed.

"So, how _is_ my grandfather doing, Ikutsuki-san?" Minato bit out after a moment. "Has told _you_ why he won't return my calls?"

All eyes turned to Ikutsuki as he floundered for words. Eventually, he muttered, "He…worries about you… occasionally."

"Is that so?" Minato snarled as he stood up. "Then he could have the goddamn decency to tell me himself!" All was quiet as Minato stared at Ikutsuki, chest heaving angrily.

_He knew Ikutsuki, _before_ sending me here. Did Grandfather reach out to _him_ about the Dark Hour? Is that why he knew to send me here? It would make sense... But, if that's true, why didn't he tell me Ikutsuki was an ally? If I knew that there was someone here who knew…_

He shook his head, calming himself. It didn't matter. It was done. Right now, they had more important things to worry about. Besides, he had only wanted to contact his grandfather to relay the information he'd found, but his efforts appeared to be pointless in the first place.

As he sat down a moment later, Minato glared icily at Ikutsuki. "I expect answers on this subject… eventually."

To Minato's surprise, Mitsuru also started glaring at Ikutsuki, her intensity matching his own. "So do I."

Akihiko cleared his throat, obviously trying to get the conversation back on track. "Either way, we know when to expect those Shadows now. That gives us a huge advantage."

"Agreed," Ikutsuki said hastily, taking the lifeline. "A-anyway, Mitsuru also mentioned that you apparently gained your Persona, Minato-kun. Not only that, but you can apparently summon it without an Evoker? How is that possible?"

Anger mollified, Minato sighed. "Well, after we got separated when the Dark Hour occurred, I woke up in a room with a person who was my twin." He felt their curious gazes on him as he continued. "Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, I was pretty confused. He wasn't an exact copy, however: He had bright yellow eyes instead of my blue. Other than that, he looked exactly the same as me. I asked him who he was and he replied that he _was _me… or rather, he was my Shadow, to be exact."

"What?" Mitsuru and Ikutsuki said simultaneously.

"Yeah…" Minato replied. "A physical manifestation of all the emotions that I denied existing, all wrapped up into a creepy identical-looking package. I didn't believe him at first…" He chuckled. "I mean, who would? …But then he started mentioning things that only I would know."

Yukari tilted her head in confusion. "Like what?"

Minato's breath deserted him. Instinctively, he looked at Mitsuru, who inhaled sharply in realization. After a moment, she gave him a small smile and shook her head slightly, causing him to inhale deeply. "Well…" He said after collecting himself, "He had intimate knowledge of a traumatic event that I had experienced in the past; one I'd rather not go into detail right now, if that's alright with you?"

Eyes widening in realization, Yukari nodded, regret in her eyes. "…Yeah, sure. Sorry, Minato-kun."

He shook his head. "Its fine, Yukari; you didn't know. Anyways, after that, he made me feel every emotion that I had ever repressed or lied to myself about feeling. I realized then that he was telling the truth."

He felt the collective wince from the other SEES members as they all tried to imagine what something like that must have felt like. Fuuka shook her head in sympathy. "That must have been awful."

"Not as much as you might think," He replied lightly. "After all, it was everything good _and_ bad I had denied feeling. It was just intense… Eye-opening even. Anyways, after that, he said that he felt that you guys were in trouble."

"What?" Akihiko asked with a frown. "How could it have known that?"

Minato shook his head. "I don't know. He said it was because he was also a Shadow, but I dunno how true that is. Anyways, with that he teleported us back down to the lobby, and… well…that's when you guys saw the rest."

"The report mentioned that your twin was there one second, but gone the next," Ikutsuki stated. "What happened?"

Minato grimaced. "After my surprise attack failed, and I saw all you guys about to be killed..." He swallowed. "…I remember losing all hope. Then all of a sudden, time just… _stopped_. My twin walked up to me, and told me what he wanted. He said that I could save you all if I did just one thing for him: Accept him for who he was. Acknowledge that he…was me."

"Well," Junpei said with a smirk, "You obviously accepted."

"It wasn't as easy as just saying, 'Yes, I accept.'" He said with a shake of his head. "It was a bit more complicated than that. I had to _truly_ accept everything that he represented, good and bad. Anyway, once I did that, that's when he disappeared. Time resumed for me, and I could…_feel it. _The power was there, just waiting to be called, like it had been there all along, but this was my first time noticing." All the other Persona users nodded at this, including Fuuka. They had all experienced it as well.

Ikutsuki smiled. "Well, I'm glad that you resolved that. It sounds like it was pretty intense. I'm still fuzzy on how you summoned your Persona without an Evoker, though…"

"Well, I can't really help you there," Minato said with a shrug. "I just…can, I guess. I just _knew_ I could do it."

Ikutsuki shook his head in disappointment. "Oh well, I can't expect you to have all the answers. It is a good thing, however. You were a formidable force without your Persona, and now, I have a feeling that we will be even stronger with it."

"Well, I'm eager to help," Minato said with a nod.

"Good. Now I have noticed that you all haven't been exploring Tartarus much lately," Ikutsuki said reproachfully. "Remember that we need to keep our strength up, and that the Shadows aren't going to wait for us to be ready. You all barely made it through that last fight after all."

Minato felt a large amount of guilt settle on his shoulders. That had been his fault. However, the SEES members gave various noises of acknowledgement to the Chairman, citing school and clubs as their reasons, still covering for him. Mitsuru gave a regretful smile as she said, "We'll continue our exploration soon, Mr. Chairman."

"…Very well," Ikutsuki replied, satisfied. "In the meantime, I am going to research all I can about these Shadows and their connection to the full moon. I'll let Mitsuru know when I've found something." With that, Ikutsuki got up to leave. He walked to the door and opened it, but turned back before stepping through. "Minato-kun?"

Minato turned to look at him. "Yes?"

Ikutsuki looked at the ground regretfully. "I am sorry for deceiving you."

After a moment, Minato shook his head. "It's alright, Ikutsuki-san. I'm not angry at you." Minato's face tightened in anger. "…My grandfather, on the other hand…"

Ikutsuki nodded sadly. "I understand your frustration with him, but he does honestly worry about you. Try not to be too harsh on him when you see him next, ok?"

Minato just shrugged. "No promises."

Sensing that was all Minato had to say on the subject, Ikutsuki nodded wordlessly, turned and left.

* * *

After the door closed behind Ikutsuki, Yukari looked straight at Minato. "What the hell was that all about?"

Minato gave a derisive snort. "Well, I have been trying to contact my grandfather for a couple of months now, trying to relay information on what I've found here. Turns out I needn't have bothered, cause Ikutsuki-san has probably been feeding him information the whole time, perhaps even before my arrival."

"What?!" Yukari exclaimed.

He nodded. "Well, as most of you know, I have been a witness to the Dark Hour for the past ten years, and he's a detective. If anyone could help me make sense of it, it was him. Still…" He looked down at the ground. "He didn't tell me a damn thing about the Shadows, or Apathy Syndrome, or Ikutsuki-san, or any of it prior to coming here. He had to have gotten information concerning the Dark Hour _prior_ to sending me here, but until now, I had no idea _how." _

"You did say he likes to keep things to himself…" Yukari said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Minato replied with a snort, "That doesn't mean it doesn't still piss me off…"

"No offense, boss," Junpei jumped in, "But your grandpa sounds like a dick."

Glancing at Junpei in surprise, Minato laughed. He'd had taken the wind right out of his sails with that comment. "Yeah, he is one sometimes… Other times, he's a good enough man." He looked over at Mitsuru, who had been just as surprised as he was. "I take it then that you didn't know either, Mitsuru-san?"

"No," She said, shaking her head in barely contained anger. "He kept that particular piece of information to himself, it seems. It makes sense. He was the one who ran the background checks, who gave us the dossier on you. That's probably why it was doctored to leave out your familial connections, something that should have been obvious." She growled under her breath. "…if he does something like that again..."

"I had wondered about that," Minato said lightly. "I mean, it's not like it's _that_ big of a secret. Just looking up my grandfather's name on the internet would get you over two dozen news articles written about him over the past 20 years."

Yukari shook her head. "What else could Ikutsuki be hiding from us?"

Minato noticed Mitsuru tense a small amount at Yukari's words. He was suddenly reminded of her reaction to Junpei's question when they had first seen Tartarus, and when he'd 'presented' his findings on the Kirijo lab accident to her. All of her reactions had all been similar: evasive, nervous, and even angry. _Thrice is a pattern…_

He shook his head. Now definitely wasn't the time to bring it up. Confronting her could break the team's cohesion, which was already very precarious. They had a deadline to prepare for, after all. With the next full moon in a couple of weeks, they needed to be at full strength and ready to fight, not potentially at each other's throats. He smiled in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Eh, probably just a secret cache of those horrible puns he keeps subjecting us to."

"I know, right?" Junpei said with a laugh, taking the bait. "He's the worst. I mean, I like puns as much as the next guy, but Ikutsuki's? They make me cringe so hard, I can feel my teeth grinding."

Yukari frowned a little at the hijacking of her question, but quickly smiled despite herself. "Seriously, how does he keep coming up with them? I thought that he would have at least one good one, but-"

"They're consistently bad," Minato finished. "It's honestly kind of terrifying."

"Yeah, it's kind of strange now that I think about it." Akihiko added. "His puns have always been this bad. You'd think with as much practice as he gets, he would get better at it."

Mitsuru's mouth tilted upward into a smile. "Well, I suppose you can say that these puns are _bad_ for morale."

"Oh _god no!" _Minato exclaimed as he turned and stared in shock and horror at the red haired girl. "Not you too!"

Mitsuru just laughed. "Well, I find wordplay of all forms to be enjoyable, don't you?"

"But that can hardly be considered wordplay!" Minato replied, a growing look of horror on his face. "It's just…Ugh!"

She laughed again at the look of horror and stupefaction on his face. "You make a fair point. However, not all of us can be as quick with irony and wit like others."

He grumbled in acquiescence to her point. "Doesn't mean they shouldn't try…"

Taking advantage of the break in the conversation, Minato turned and looked at their newest member. Fuuka seemed out of place and uncomfortable, almost like she didn't know if she belonged here or not. Apparently, she was nervous about stepping on toes.

_Well, now. We can't have a member feel out of place here. After all, she's got probably the most important job of all now. Time to throw her into the deep end, metaphorically speaking…_

"So Fuuka," Minato said suddenly, causing the girl to jump, "What did you think of Ikutsuki-san?"

She looked at him in surprise for a moment then smiled timidly. "U-um, He's pretty nice, I suppose. His pun was rather horrible, though. How long have you known him for?"

"Only a couple of months," He said lightly. "This stuff with my grandfather is new though."

"I see…W-What was that phrase he said, the one you recognized…? '"

He smiled as he recited from memory. "'Once is an occasion, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern.' It's one of the first rules my grandfather taught me about investigating: Look for patterns, and you will typically find clues. Follow the clues, and you can solve the case."

"I see. That does make sense…" Broken out of her shell, Fuuka continued to ask him and the others questions about the group, the Shadows, the Dark Hour, and anything else she could think of. By doing so, she gradually opened up, little by little. She started smiling more and laughing occasionally, usually at some comment of Junpei's. After they had broken for the evening, he smiled inwardly.

_All it takes is a single step to be brave, Fuuka. You taught me that. The rest is easy, comparatively._

* * *

_Both Pharos and Jehuty were waiting for him in the expanse, both nodding simultaneously to Minato as he approached._

_"Ok, that was kinda creepy," He said with a smirk. "Don't do that again."_

_Pharos smiled while Jehuty chuffed in laughter. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, it was Jehuty's idea."_

_Minato glanced at the Persona before shaking his head. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. He __is__ me, after all," He sighed. "So, what occasions the visit, guys? More earth shattering information, or a grave prediction about my future, perhaps?"_

_"Neither," Pharos replied, drawing a confused glance. "The two of us have been conversing about your past and mine, and how they relate. As we were speaking, I made a startling realization. If the first thing that both of us remember is your parents' death…"_ _Pharos paused and looked away for a moment. When he turned back, he looked…worried. "Minato, if I had a role in your parent's death, would you be able to forgive me?"_

_He thought the question over for a moment before sighing. "Honestly, I don't think I could. But…" He stepped closer to the boy. "…I don't think you did, Pharos. I don't get that kind of vibe from you. You don't seem like someone who would kill like that."_

_"How can you know that?" Pharos asked angrily, recoiling away from him. "You can't remember, I can't remember, and no one seems to want to give us any answers! The only thing I can remember is that night…!"_

_"__Hey." Minato walked over to the boy and placed his hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. If no one wants to give you an answer to your questions…"_

_After a moment, Pharos looked up at him and gave a small smile. "Sometimes, you have to find them for yourself... Thank you, Minato."_

_"__**Yes, thank you, Master. The little one here was becoming rather upset." **__Jehuty tilted his head.__** "It was becoming…distressing."**_

_"__You know," Minato said with a smile, "You guys don't have to be the only ones giving advice around here. I could take a shot at giving it, myself."_

_Pharos smiled sadly. "Of course… Thank you again for believing in me."_

_"__Pharos, you believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself," Minato said genially. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't return the favor?"_

_"…__Of course…" Pharos said, light returning to his eyes. "You're right."_

_"__I'm always right," Minato said confidently, drawing a snort of amusement from both his Persona and his friend. After a silent moment, Minato coughed. "So, was that it…or…?"_ _His question was answered by the fading of the expanse from his mind, as the two entities drifted farther and farther away from his view._

* * *

June 12th, 2009

* * *

"Arisato, I'm taking that rain check today."

"Huh? What rain check?" Minato replied as his hand full of soba bread paused halfway to his mouth. He squinted up at Mitsuru from his usual hiding place under the persimmon tree. She was standing right in front of him with her arms crossed, tapping her foot expectantly.

He took a moment to rack his brain about what she meant before his eyes widened in realization: she was referring to the time he asked her out to lunch… 2 months ago. "You remembered that…? Wait, you want to take it now?" He gestured to the bread in his hand. "B-But I already bought lunch for the day."

"I can see that," Mitsuru replied, a small smirk on her face. "However, I have something I must do for Student Council in a few minutes, so your money won't go to waste."

"Oh, ok…" Minato replied, confused. "Wait, so if we aren't getting lunch together today… Why say you're taking the rain check?"

"Because, as my lunch hours are usually occupied with Student Council work," She explained, "Having lunch together is simply unfeasible. However, I propose a compromise: We get dinner together instead."

Minato had never been so glad to be hiding in shade before that moment. His blush felt like it was radioactive. "W-Wait, dinner…? Together?"

She nodded. "Yes. Surprisingly, my evening tonight is open, and so I wish to take you up on your offer this way." She frowned slightly. "Is that not okay?"

"No! No, its fine," He said perhaps a bit too hastily. "It's just…surprising is all…"

"I understand," She said with a nod. "I know that it's a bit short notice…"

"Like I said, it's fine… Mitsuru," Minato said, using her first name-sans-honorific for the first time since that night. It had the opposite effect he'd hoped it would. A blush suddenly appeared on Mitsuru's face, her obviously not expecting him to be so familiar in such a public setting. She started rubbing her arm nervously and her eyes darted from side to side, searching for hidden eavesdroppers.

_Crap, you idiot! You completely derailed the conversation by doing that… Quick, try to bring it back!_

"So, uh… did you have a place in mind that you wanted to go?" he asked, hoping to clear the awkward air that had settled over them.

The question shook Mitsuru from her nervousness, and, after taking a moment to collect herself, she nodded. "…Akihiko mentioned a place called 'Hagakure Ramen' that he said he enjoyed eating at. I've never had ramen before, but I heard-"

"What!?" Minato cried, startling Mitsuru. "How is that-" He raised a finger to stop himself. "No, this… _travesty_ must be rectified as soon as possible." Mitsuru stared at him as if he had gone crazy. His gaze snapped to her, an intense look in his eyes. "It is a punishment bordering on a _crime_ that you've never had ramen before." He nodded. "That settles it: You, me, Hagakure, tonight. When do you want to go?"

"U-Uh…" Mitsuru blinked in confusion, having lost track of the conversation. "I-I was planning on eating right after school…"

"Perfect," Minato said, eyes burning brightly with passion. He quickly wrapped up his soba bread and put it in his bag before throwing said bag over his shoulder. "If we're eating right after school, I don't want to ruin my appetite," He explained before walking away from Mitsuru, leaving her stunned. Before heading to the library, he took one last look at her, a small smile on his face. He definitely hadn't been expecting this would happen.

Tonight was going be interesting.

* * *

The final bell rang, and, after putting his things in his bag, Minato turned to look at Mitsuru. She looked back at him after a moment, a faint blush on her face. "…I have something I have to do for Student Council before heading out," She murmured with a slight frown. "It won't take too long however, so why don't you wait for me by the gate?"

"Ok," Minato said with a nod. He narrowed his eyes. "10 minutes, or I'm going without you."

She smirked. "Hmm… Better work quickly then."

He chuckled as he stood up and made his way downstairs, exiting the school building and walking over to wait by the gate. As he waited, Junpei walked by on his way out. "Hey, Boss, what's up?"

"Not much," Minato replied, "Just waiting for someone."

"Oh… is that so?" Junpei said, a suggestive smirk crawling onto his face. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"Like I'd tell you, blabbermouth," Minato said with a smirk. "I tell you, next thing I know, it's all over the school."

"Ugh! I'm hurt and offended by that, Boss," Junpei replied with mock hurt. "I would never betray your confidence!" Turning serious, he smiled. "But seriously, good luck tonight, man."

"Thanks, Junpei," Minato said genuinely, "But it's not like that: we're just friends."

"Ha! Yeah, right. You may say that…" Junpei said before he turned and started walking away. "Just make sure you came prepared!" He said over his shoulder, missing the rude gesture Minato made at his retreating back. With a small chuckle and a shake of his head at his friend's antics, Minato returned to his waiting.

Sure enough, 10 minutes passed and there was still no sign of Mitsuru. He was starting to draw attention, standing there by himself. Several girls had already walked by having made no effort to conceal their stares. He started to pace nervously. What if her thing for Student Council had been more serious than she'd thought? What if something had come up with the Kirijo Group, taking away her free time this evening?

What if she'd gotten cold feet?

He pursed his lips nervously. Maybe he should just go. They could meet up another-

"10 minutes on the dot, as promised."

He spun around, smiling at Mitsuru. "You made it."

"I hope you weren't thinking of leaving without me?" She replied, returning his smile. "I apologize for the wait, something urgent needed to be-"

"Mitsuru-san! Where do you think you're going!?"

Mitsuru's eyes widened as she turned around to face whoever was calling her name. The boy had swept-back black hair and black eyes, the yellow Student Council armband tied tightly around his left arm. He regarded Mitsuru with a steady glare as he walked up to her. "You can't just cut me off and storm away like that. I'm dealing with a _very_ serious matter here and as Student Council president, it's _your_ job to-"

"I _understand_ your concerns, Odagiri," Mitsuru said with a sigh of exasperation, "And I apologize for being so curt with you earlier. I simply had a prior engagement that I wished to be on time for, which is why I said we'd discuss this _tomorrow_. Now, if you'll please excuse me-"

"You had a prior engagement… with him?" Odagiri interrupted, pointing at Minato. "Who is he, exactly?" A devilish smirk appeared on his face. "…Your _boyfriend?"_

Mitsuru froze. "I… he's…"

His smirk grew as Mitsuru floundered for words. "Because, you know, dereliction of duty is something that cannot be tolerated-"

"I'm her new deputy on Student Council." Minato said suddenly, stepping around her and sticking out his hand. "Minato Arisato, nice to meet you."

"…_This_ is your new deputy?" Stunned, Odagiri just stared at him for a moment before looking at Mitsuru. "Is this true?"

Mitsuru stared at Minato incredulously for a moment before adapting, nodding as she squared her shoulders confidently. "…Yes, he is. I had intended to introduce him to all of you earlier, but-"

"-But I'm a transfer student," Minato explained, "So I wanted to take some time to acclimatize to the new area and my work load before starting my duties. I feel that I've got a good grip on things now, so Mitsuru-san was just going to spend some time with me today to explain what my duties will entail." He smirked. "You understand, right?"

"…I suppose…" Odagiri said after a moment, his eyes narrowing. "Still, why didn't you run this through the Student Council, Mitsuru-san? It's not going to look good for us if you just elect someone without consulting anyone…"

"I need someone I can _trust_ in the position, Odagiri," Mitsuru said, her tone becoming cold. "If anyone wants to criticize me for it, they're welcome to. It won't change my decision."

Odagiri sighed. "Of course it won't…" With that, he finally shook Minato's proffered hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Arisato-san. I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri, the Disciplinary Committee supervisor. I suppose we'll be working together from now on."

"I'm looking forward to it, Odagiri-san," Minato replied politely. His grip tightened, causing the other boy to wince slightly. "I trust that this kind of misunderstanding won't happen again?"

"O-Of course," Odagiri said with a nod. Minato let go of his hand, and the boy rubbed it gingerly for a moment. He turned back to Mitsuru. "Mitsuru-san, I apologize for-"

"Don't let it happen again, Odagiri," Mitsuru said icily. She turned to Minato. "Come, we can discuss the details of your new job over something to eat."

Minato smirked as he fell into step beside her. "Perhaps… Hagakure Ramen?"

"Of course, that sounds excellent," She replied. With that, the two of them walked off, leaving a stunned Odagiri staring after them. Once Odagiri was out of earshot, Minato inhaled deeply to calm the vicious anger that had built up in his chest at the boy's insubordination. Mitsuru glanced at him, a small, genuine smile on her face. "…Thank you for stepping in like that. When he said… _that_, I… I didn't really know what to say."

"I couldn't just let him do that to you," He replied, a hint of anger in his tone. "He _actually_ tried to accuse you of dereliction of duty, which even _I_ know is a load of bullshit. You work harder than most adults I've met, so I think he was just fishing for an excuse to find something wrong with you."

Mitsuru sighed. "Sadly, you're probably right. Odagiri thinks I'm being too lax when it comes to disciplinary matters. The argument you were drawn into was just one of many of these conversations."

"So, is he why you have no free time at lunch?" Minato said with a small smirk. "If you want, I know of a few harmless ways to make him disappear for a few days…"

She laughed. "As tempting as that is, Odagiri is just doing his job; I can hardly fault him for that. Speaking of which…" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I take it this means you've accepted my offer?"

Minato snorted. "I've already introduced myself as your deputy to one of your council members. I think I'm stuck with the job now."

"You won't hear my complaint," Mitsuru said as a smile appeared on her face. "Of course, you do realize that I _am _going to have to explain what it is you'll be doing as my deputy now?"

"Of course you are…" Minato said with a sigh. "Oh, well, not like I had anything better to do this evening… besides this of course."

The two walked the rest of the way to the train station in comfortable silence, a faint blush on both their faces.

* * *

"_This_ is where Akihiko eats so often?" Mitsuru asked, gazing wide eyed around her at the small ramen shop. "It's so… so…"

Minato winced. She'd never been to a ramen bar before, so it probably was a bit of a culture shock to her. "Dingy? Dirty?"

"...small!" She said with a chuckle. "I never realized you could pack so many people in so small a space."

"True…" Minato said as he glanced around. It was rather busy this evening, with almost every available seat taken by salarymen or vendors just getting off work. Luckily, the two teens had managed to snag a couple of seats at the far-end of the bar, enabling them to converse without being overheard. "So," He said with a flourish at the menu, "What'll you have?"

She stared up at the menu for a few moments before turning back to him with a challenging smirk on her face. "What would you recommend, since you were so offended by my ramen inexperience earlier?"

Minato smirked devilishly before shouting over the counter, "Two Shoyu-styles, Boss!"

The chef pointed at him, acknowledging his order. "Two classics, coming right up!"

"…If you're gonna spend your first time with me, then you're going to do it old school." Minato said, turning back to her with a smile. Mitsuru just stared back at him, causing Minato to shift uncomfortably. "What, did I say something wrong?"

"You just… yell your order over the counter?" She said incredulously. "What if the chef gets your order wrong?"

"I never get my orders wrong, lady!" The chef suddenly said over his shoulder, causing her to jump. "What do you think this is? A restaurant? Please, I have more class than that!"

"I-I'm so sorry," Mitsuru stammered, "I-"

"This is her first time having ramen, Boss, so be nice to her!" Minato said, interrupting with a small smirk on his face.

"Her first time!?" The chef said incredulously, turning to gaze at her with wide eyes before walking over to the counter in front of her. She shrank under his steady gaze before blinking in confusion as he smiled brightly at her. "I'm honored that you are experiencing the delights of ramen for the first time in _my_ shop," He said with a slight bow. "What's your name, young lady?"

"M-Mitsuru Kirijo…" She said nervously.

The chef's eyes brightened even more. "…A Kirijo in my store, eating ramen for the first time!?" He inhaled sharply, drawing himself up to his full height. "I'm gonna make the best damn ramen you'll ever taste, Miss Kirijo, just you watch!" With that, the chef returned to cooking, a slight zip in all of his movements as he began putting together their order.

"…I think you just made his night," Minato said with a chuckle.

Mitsuru's mouth just opened and closed again for a few moments before she shook her head clear of her confusion. "What… What just happened?"

Seeing Mitsuru's complete and utter confusion caused Minato's chuckle to turn into a full-on belly laugh. She stared at him blankly for a few moments before his laughter infected her too, causing both teens to double over giggling. Once their laughing fit was over, Minato turned to her, a large smile on his face. "That was… totally worth it."

Wiping her eyes, Mitsuru turned and glared at him, but there was no fire in it. "I'm glad you found my discomfort so amusing."

"Hey, I've never seen you look _that_ out of place before," Minato said with a defensive shrug. "You can't blame me for finding it funny."

"I suppose. Still," she looked over at the chef, "I don't really understand what just happened, but…" She smiled lightly. "…That's not entirely a bad thing."

Drawn by the light in her voice, he turned and looked at her, fully taking in who she was at that moment. For as long as he'd known Mitsuru, she'd always had this… heavy air around her, like she had a burden that only she could feel hanging over her head. At this moment, however… that air was gone, evaporated during their little laughing fit.

Somehow, she was more beautiful in that moment then she'd ever been before.

His stomach lurched as his heart began to beat faster.

_Oh, god, I've got it bad._

"Two classics," The chef said as he placed the bowls full of ramen in front of the two teens, the sound breaking him from his thoughts. "_Bon Appétit, _Miss Kirijo."

"_Merci beaucoup,_" Mitsuru replied instantly, drawing a surprised eyebrow from Minato.

"You know French?" He asked lightly.

"_Oui,_ I've been studying since I was a little girl," She said with a smile. "Do you know any languages?"

"Japanese, barely," He said with a smirk, drawing a chuckle from Mitsuru. "No, I know a bit of German and Spanish (don't ask), as well as Mandarin and English."

"Ah, I see," She said with a nod. "Part of your detective training, I assume?"

"Some of it," He replied as he pulled his chopsticks out of their sleeve, "mostly the Mandarin and English."

"Why the other two though?" She asked lightly. "Why Spanish and German?"

"Didn't I just say 'don't ask'?" He said harshly before staring down at his food with a scowl. He hadn't meant to snap at her. After a moment, he sighed. "…Haruya was taking Spanish and German when I met her. I was part of those classes too, so I picked up a bit from them…"

Mitsuru's face fell. "Minato, I'm so sorry for bringing that up…"

His eyes widened, his scowl disappearing immediately. A smile started to creep its way onto his face. "…Thanks…"

Her eyebrow furrowed in confusion. "…For what?"

"…For using my name," He replied lightly.

She blinked rapidly at the realization, surprised at how easily she'd said it. After a moment, a small smile appeared on her face as well. "…Well, consider this payback for earlier."

"Deal," He said, pulling apart his chopsticks. "Come on, we should eat before it gets cold." He started to lean in to begin eating when Mitsuru tapped him on the shoulder.

"Um… Minato…" She said lightly, her use of his name sending a shiver down his spine.

"Yes, Mitsuru?" He replied with a smirk. Two could play at that game.

She looked between her bowl and the chopsticks in her hand with a confused look on her face. "…How exactly am I supposed to eat this? Is there a specific etiquette, or way or…?"

His howls of laughter could be heard all the way to the street outside.

* * *

June 20th, 2009

* * *

The past week had been a busy one for Minato. That's why he was currently trying to resist falling asleep in the middle of class.

_Right, of course... It's not that you know this stuff like the back of your hand _and_ Ono's being boring. Again._

He liked history and mythology, he really did, but Mr. Ono somehow managed to make listening to tales of gods and monsters extremely boring. It was almost like he didn't care about anything _but _Japanese history. Minato yawned for what felt like the nth time that day and closed his eyes for a second as he went back over the past week.

First, he had been surprised during their foray into Tartarus the evening after his and Mitsuru's kinda-sorta-maybe date, because Mitsuru had wanted him to lead again. He believed that he had screwed up so monumentally during the train op that he should be permanently out of consideration. He expressed this opinion to her, and she had not been impressed, to say the least.

He smirked as he remembered the conversation.

* * *

_Minato raised an eyebrow at her. "You're kidding, right?"_

_"If you don't want to do it…"Akihiko said with a smirk._

_Mitsuru glared at Akihiko for a moment before turning her glare back to him. "No, I am dead serious. I want you to pick your team, and I will observe _personally_ your behavior during this operation. If you meet my expectations, then I will move to have you take over as field leader permanently. If not, Akihiko will lead."_

_"Wait, why don't you lead?" Minato said with a scowl. "You don't have to stay behind anymore as the guide, and you _are_ our leader, at least in writing."_

_"Yes," She acknowledged with a nod, "But I have not been in the field for quite some time. I need a little time to get used to the flow of things again. As for why, I believe that _you_ are the best choice for field leader out of the group that we have, not me."_

_"__What?" Minato looked at her like she was crazy. "I lead once before, and look at what happened afterward! We didn't do anything concerning Tartarus for 2 months!"_

_Mitsuru smirked. "Then, you won't mind if you make up for that by doing this one thing for me, will you?"_

_He looked at her incredulously. He had wondered how he was going to make up for being the reason they were so behind. He had to admit, it was a good play. She had him, but he wasn't going to let her know that. He turned away petulantly. "Well… I still think it's a bad idea."_

_Mitsuru smiled and leaned in to whisper to him. "I trust you…Minato. The rest do too. Trust _me_."_

_Hearing her say his name still sent a chill down his spine. He hoped that his shudder wasn't _that_ noticeable as he turned back to her and nodded. "…Alright, I'll do my best. Yukari, Akihiko, you two get to be the other sacrificial lambs for this."_

_Junpei groaned in disappointment, but Minato turned and smiled at him. "I got you for next time, Junpei. We'll come back tomorrow too."_

_He nodded at Minato. "Alright… I'll hold you to that, Boss."_

_Fuuka smiled at them timidly as they walked to the foot of the stairs. "G-good luck, you guys. I'll be watching out for you in there."_

* * *

He had ended up leading them expertly, like Mitsuru said he would.

He deferred to his team when they had ideas better than his, and was able to develop strategies that incorporated his team's strengths and weaknesses on the fly. He had been surprised by how much easier it was to fight when he had a Persona. Jehuty seemed to fortify his natural strength and stamina simply by existing. As for his powers, it seemed that he focused on strengthening his team and weakening their enemies, improving their cohesion through sheer force of will.

On their first foray into Tartarus a few months ago, they had been surprised by a strong Shadow and were almost been killed by it. This time, with Fuuka's sensory powers, they quickly found out that those kinds of Shadows were a regular occurrence on every couple of levels or so. It had made it much safer knowing what was coming and when, allowing them to breeze through what would have been several tough fights because of her and Minato's guidance.

After they had stopped for the night, Mitsuru had said how impressed she had been with his ability, and had signed off on making him the official Field Leader for SEES, becoming the one who would lead the team on every expedition into the heart of Tartarus from then on.

The night after that, they had made blistering progress up the tower, mostly thanks to Fuuka. Due to her enhanced sensory powers, they had been able to go through 40 floors, killing over a hundred Shadows by the end of their 2nd night. Her abilities gave them all confidence, including her. She said afterward that she felt as though she was becoming valuable to the team. The other team members had been quick to reaffirm this thought, Mitsuru even going so far as to call her invaluable.

As good as they all felt however, they had found out that they were not superhuman, Personae or not. They still needed to sleep, to rest and recover from the absolutely soul-crushing oppressiveness of Tartarus. They had quickly decided that 3 nights in a row was too hard on them, as they had all been too tired to do much the following day. They all vowed not to do that again unless absolutely necessary.

Apart from Tartarus, his school obligations were growing more and more complex as well. After they had finished their dinner the other night and returned to the dorm, Mitsuru had sat down with him and explained what he would be doing as her deputy on the Student Council. Essentially, he would be her proxy, acting with her authority in matters that she could not be present for. That revelation had caused him to have a minor panic attack. With this one appointment, he'd gone from being practically nobody to being the second-most powerful student on campus.

The day after, she had introduced him to her cabinet, and, Odagiri excluded, they had all been surprisingly pleasant to him. They all obviously respected Mitsuru, and seemed to quickly pick up on the respect she had for him. Wasting no time, they had often come to him for advice over the next couple of days, and he had been surprised at how much he enjoyed it.

He liked feeling like people relied on him, he found. Before, at other schools he had been to, he had always been so focused on his end goals that he never really stood out, and was never the center of attention. If he had, he would have been doing his job wrong, after all. Here, he was quickly becoming a known figure in the school, and it was gradually becoming less and less horrifying to him.

In addition to finally joining Student Council, the Fencing Team had been keeping him rather busy as well. Mitsuru had been pushing the Fencing Team rather hard, attempting to get them all ready for the largest tournament in the country. She believed that they had a good chance at sweeping the saber category, and would do well in epee and foil. The two of them had been sparring regularly as well.

He and Mitsuru had been using his ambidextrous nature to their mutual advantage during their sparring. Mitsuru had been able to practice against a left-handed fencer, enabling her to work through her weakness and banish some of her demons. Minato got the chance to practice against the best fencer he had ever seen, and to use that to get better with his left-handed fencing, giving him a potential advantage. The team had been impressed with their bouts, calling them, "The Crimson Sea." They had been told it was because of their hair colors, _not_ because they expected that the two of them would destroy all who stood against them, forming an ocean of blood.

He only sort-of believed them.

On the other hand, he had started to acquire other problems because of his new-found fame. The toughs that had shown up on his first day had finally come back, wondering what he had done to Mitsuru to get her to pick him up as her deputy in Student Council. 'Any of us would do a better job than you', they had said. He had considered telling them that he hadn't wanted the job in the first place, but decided against it. In the end, they didn't care about what he thought, so he ignored them. In addition, to Akihiko's great amusement, he had also apparently started collecting a small fan club of girls, chief among them the girls who had been staring at him as he waited for Mitsuru.

He had thought it funny when it had happened to others, but now? He had a new found sympathy for their plight.

Still, it didn't matter. He and Mitsuru had shared dinner a few more times since that night, their conversations ranging between Student Council matters and classwork to silly anecdotes from their pasts. A smile formed on his face as he began remembering one of their conversations…

"Well, now, I think Minato-kun is right for this question, don't you think, class?"

Minato's eyes tore open at the sound of his name. He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he'd fallen asleep. He quickly shot up out of his chair, and apologized. "Sorry about that, Mr. Ono."

Mr. Ono's eyes never left him, amusement burning in them. "Well, I'll forgive you if you can answer this question: Who were the two gods that stood on either side of Ra's boat as it passed into the Underworld?"

He sighed in relief. Egyptian Mythology. "Simple: The god Thoth or Jehuty, if you want to get literal, and Ma'at, his feminine counterpart."

Mr. Ono smiled. "Oh-ho, if you think it's that simple then please explain what Ma'at is to the class."

"Which Ma'at would you like me to explain, the concept or the goddess?" Minato asked with a smirk.

His classmates oohed, impressed. Mr. Ono laughed. "Good answer! The concept, please."

Minato nodded. "Ma'at is the Egyptian concept of truth and balance. It was said that when souls entered the Underworld, their hearts were judged by Anubis on a set of scales using a 'Feather of Ma'at' as the counter balance. This 'judgement' would determine if the souls would reach the underworld intact or not."

Mr. Ono nodded. "Good to see you are paying attention, _and_ reading ahead. It certainly makes up for your lack of sleep. Now, Ma'at is something that we all can take a lesson from about balance…"

Minato sat down. That was too close. If it hadn't been a subject he knew a lot about…

He turned and saw Mitsuru giving him an amused look. He smiled back at her for a moment then turned to the page they were on. He wanted to get this down. He was going to ace his exams this time, since Mitsuru found it funny to tease him about it whenever she had the opportunity.

After five more minutes however, he yawned again. He shook his head in exasperation.

_Not again…_

* * *

After class was over, Mitsuru came up to him, a serious look in her eyes. "I just got word from the Chairman: He has news for us. Can you go down and tell the 2nd years for me? Odagiri has something he needs me to take a look at in reference to his case, and I can't get down there before they leave."

Minato nodded, eyebrows raised at the implication. "You think he's figured it out? The pattern, I mean."

She shook her head. "We won't know until tonight. I'll see you then, Minato."

He smiled at her, catching her use of his name. "Ahem…"

She blushed lightly at her slip. "I-I mean, Arisato."

His grin widened as her blush deepened. She shook her head in exasperation at his amusement. "…Oh, shut up."

She turned and stormed out of the classroom, face burning red. That made him a little proud. He could make the 'Ice Queen of Gekkoukan' embarrassed with little to no effort on his part! He would probably pay for it on the training mat, of course, but that was a small price to pay for stroking one's ego sometimes.

* * *

He walked down the steps to the 2nd floor hallway, heading for 2-E first. He walked in to see Fuuka chatting amiably with Natsuki, of all people. Fuuka seemed to be having a good time and Natsuki seemed to be a bit more at ease around her as well. Minato walked up to them, causing Fuuka to smile at him, while Natsuki got a small panicked look in her eyes.

"Hello, Minato-senpai," Fuuka said lightly, "What's up?"

Minato smiled disarmingly, having sensed Natsuki's distress. "Not much. We have a meeting at the dorm tonight: club activities."

"Alright," Fuuka said with a nod, "I'll head out before too much longer."

"Ok, good," Minato said before turning to Natsuki. "…It's good to see you again, Natsuki-san."

Natsuki nodded back at him timidly. "Y-yes, it's good to see you too, Senpai."

Minato stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder before leaning in and whispering, "It's alright, Natsuki. You are making up for it by being there for her now. Keep it up."

He pulled away from her and smiled brightly. She smiled back, put at ease by his words. "Well, ladies, it's been nice talking with you both, but I have a couple more stops to make. I'll see you later, Natsuki-san, and I'll see you back at the dorm, Fuuka."

Both girls smiled and nodded to him.

"Ok, Minato-senpai."

"Later, Senpai.

With that, he left the class and walked across the hall to 2-F. He found his two friends in the midst of laughing with another classmate of theirs. He came up to them, and they both smiled brightly at him. Yukari spoke first. "Hey, Minato-kun. What's up?"

"Yeah, what occasions the visit, bossman?" Junpei said casually, a smirk on his face.

Minato shook his head in amusement. "You just keep coming up with new ways to try and embarrass me, huh, Junpei? One would think you didn't have any time on your hands with all the different variations of that you've come up with."

Junpei laughed. "Well, I wouldn't say that they come naturally to me, but…Hey, I'd be lying. So what's up, man? You don't typically come down here just to chat."

Minato nodded. "Yeah, the Chairman is calling a meeting tonight. We think he's got something for us."

"Yeah, alright!" Junpei said, jumping out of his seat in excitement. "Some real info!"

Yukari grimaced at her classmate's childlike actions. "Ugh, don't you ever get serious, Junpei? This could be important."

"Course I'm serious, Yuka-tan! I'm just excited is all. We're finally making real progress!"

Minato nodded in agreement. "I can't say that I'm not excited either. Maybe now we can finally start to get some answers."

"Right…" Yukari simply nodded, a frown on her face.

Minato glanced at his brunette friend. He had never gotten the opportunity to ask her what was bothering her, and it appeared to still be doing so. He would have to make room for her in his schedule, and soon: she seemed to grow more and more suspicious and aggravated by the day and it worried him.

He shook his head. He'd deal with it later. "Anyways, I have some stuff I have to take care of for Fencing. I'll see you guys back at the dorm."

Junpei smiled at Minato. "Ok, catch ya later, boss!"

Yukari gave him a weary smile. "Yeah, see ya…"

He shook his head as he stepped out of the room. He was worried about her, but he didn't know what to do. His instincts screamed at him to just sit Makoto down and force her to tell him-

_Yukari. Her name is Yukari, not Makoto. Get that straight right now._

Despite himself, his mind always tried to associate Yukari with Makoto. He had to consistently make sure to call her by the right name and to not overstep his bounds as a friend. He wasn't her brother, no matter how much she might act like his sister.

Regardless, Yukari had told him that she wanted him to stop hiding from them, yet seemed to have no intention of asking the same of herself. Therein lie the heart of the problem. He trusted her more than she trusted him it seemed, (ironic considering their situations) and it was beginning to rankle his feathers.

_Well, just because she isn't my sister doesn't mean I can't treat her like it…_

* * *

Ikutsuki came into the 4th floor lounge with a large grin on his face. "Everyone's here?" He asked, surveying the room as he sat down. "Good. First off, congratulations on how well you all have been doing in regards to Tartarus. I see that you all have been making up for lost time." He gave a small bow. "Thank you. I understand it must be hard, but remember to-"

"The team is really well-balanced, Ikutsuki-san." Minato interrupted. "We watch out for each other, and we feel it when the other gets hurt. We know our boundaries and we won't overdo it."

After regarding Minato for a moment, Ikutsuki nodded approvingly. "Good. Knowing your limits will make it easier to pace yourselves. Also, congratulations on the 'promotion', Minato-kun. I hear nothing but good things from Mitsuru."

Mitsuru and Minato both blushed at that. Minato rubbed the back of his head. "Eh, I do what I can. The job's pretty simple though. Everyone knows their part, making it really easy to command; Go here, kill that." He shrugged. "Like I said, pretty simple."

Junpei scoffed. "You are selling yourself short, boss. You do a damn good job, keeping us alive out there." The other SEES members nodded in agreement with Junpei's statement.

Minato smiled at their confidence in him. "…Thanks, guys."

"Good to see you all getting along," Ikutsuki said with a smile. "Well, to the matter at hand. I have come to share some of the fruits of my labor with you all." He cleared his throat as he began. "As you may know, we classify the Shadows on a scale of 1 through 12. It's in the style of the Tarot Arcana, with each Shadow belonging to a specific arcana. What is fascinating is that, while I was classifying the full moon Shadows, I began to notice a pattern."

His face lit up in a bright smile. "Based on order of appearance, the Shadows have all appeared based on their place in the scale. The April attack was Category 1: Magician. The Monorail attack was Category 2: Priestess. The two you faced in Tartarus, Categories 3 and 4: Empress and Emperor." He looked around at all of them. "You see, they are appearing in order of their place on the Arcana!"

Minato pursed his lips in thought. Their appearance wasn't random at all. The numbering also seemed to suggest…"They're counting down to something," He murmured under his breath. "What could it be?"

Junpei shook his head in confusion. "I don't get it. Why is this important?"

"The full moon Shadows are appearing in order of their classification," Minato explained. "We've already killed 4 of them, and, if what Ikutsuki's theory is correct, there are 12 in total. This means that there are potentially 8 more of those Shadows left." He shook his head. "What I don't get is, why? What is the purpose? We still don't know what the Shadows as a whole are. What their purpose is."

Ikutsuki frowned. "It's a good question. I'm still trying to work that out."

"That doesn't matter," Akihiko said, clenching his fist, "We still have to stop them. We know when they come, and how many are left! I'd say that's a pretty good thing to know, don't you guys?"

Mitsuru nodded, as did Junpei and Fuuka. Minato still had his reservations, however.

Yukari shook her head. "I don't get it. What about Tartarus? Where does it fit in to all of this?"

Once again, Mitsuru tensed as someone mentioned Tartarus' origins. Minato glanced at her.

_There it is again. Yukari has to have noticed by now, cause, she isn't being that subtle about it._

If Yukari _had_ noticed, she didn't show it. "Oh well," She said with a shake of her head, "Like Akihiko-senpai said, it doesn't matter right now. We know how many of those big ones we have left to kill now. That's the important thing."

"Exactly," Ikutsuki said with a nod. "The answers to Tartarus are probably within the tower itself. Continue your expeditions and I'm sure you'll find the answer." He cleared his throat. "Well, that's all I had for you all tonight. I hope you have a nice rest of your evening, everyone. I'll continue my research, and hopefully have more answers for you next time we meet."

Ikutsuki then stood up and left. The meeting adjourned, Mitsuru and Akihiko yawned and said that they were going to bed. Fuuka and Junpei nodded in agreement, and followed them out, leaving Minato and Yukari alone in the command room.

Minato looked over at Yukari, who glanced at him evasively. She looked like she wanted to ask him something. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she set herself. "So, uh…" She said nervously, "…You saw it too, didn't you?"

"Saw what?"

She scowled. "You know what. Mitsuru-senpai has been tensing up every time that you, or I, or anyone else mentions Tartarus' origins. What was it your grandfather says? 'Thrice is a pattern?'"

"…Yeah, I've noticed it." He said reluctantly. "What about it?"

She scoffed. "…You don't care. You are too busy sucking up to her, making yourself look like her knight in shining armor. …I should have known that you wouldn't listen."

She got up to leave, but he stood up, blocking her path. "Now hold on," He said icily, "You need to back up and explain what you just said, cause I didn't realize that what I do with _my_ friends determined whether I'll listen to you or not."

She shook her head in anger. "How can you not care that she's hiding something from us?! We're risking our lives, day in and day out, on nothing but _her_ word! Don't you _want_ to know the truth?"

Her words began stoking the anger at her that had been burning since this afternoon. He tensed and narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course I do. What do you think I did for those 2 months, sat on my hands, and raged at the world? No, I've been investigating the Kirijo Group since I got here. Hell, I even found something interesting a month back."

Yukari stared at him in shock. "What?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it made Mitsuru-san angry that I found it, too." He shrugged. "I still haven't gotten an explanation for it, but I figure that if it's important, she'll tell us."

She just looked at him in disbelief. "You've been hiding this from me? From us? Why?!"

Her naked distrust finally stoked his anger into a bonfire. "For the same damn reason you're acting this way!" He exploded. "It would divide the team! Have us at each other's throats! If Ikutsuki's right about these full moon Shadows, we need to trust one another to watch each other's backs, not constantly wondering who's going to shank whom next!"

She shrunk in the face of his anger, causing regret to douse his anger. He wasn't wrong; things were only going to get more dangerous, and the team needed to be united to survive. Still, as much as he didn't like it, she had a point. She began backing away from him slowly, causing him to sigh. "…Look, Yukari. If it's that important to you, I can bring it up at the next meeting." Her eyes widened in surprise. "We'll get some answers from her, together."

She looked at him dumbly for a moment before she shook her head in confusion. "Why? You were right."

He sighed. "…Because I'm still curious, dammit. And I think that we can't keep dancing around it for long, anyway. She's not exactly being subtle about it, and someone's gonna ask sooner or later." He gave her a half-smirk. "…Might as well be sooner."

She nodded and smiled regretfully at him. "Thank you. Um, I'm sorry I said those things to you. They were out of line. It's not my place to comment on who you decide to go after... romantically." He glanced up at her in shock. She smiled at him. "What, did you think I wouldn't notice? The way you keep dancing around her is really cute."

He floundered for words. "That's…I…She…"

She laughed. "I've knocked Minato Arisato speechless. A cold day in Hell is coming, I can feel it."

His blush was burning so hard his face felt like it was on fire. "Well, you had better believe it," He said, finally regaining control of his mouth, "Because you are going to Tartarus in nothing but your underwear next time."

She blushed furiously. "What?!" She sputtered at him. "No way!"

A vindictive grin appeared on his face. "Good, now you know the consequences for if you tell anyone. _Anyone."_

She glared at him for a moment then smiled. "Ok, you win. I won't say anything."

"Good." She tried to step past him, and he stopped her. She looked up at him in confusion, and he stared back, concern written on his face. "Look, I think we need to talk about whatever is bothering you."

She smiled at him unconvincingly. "Nothing's wrong with me, Minato-kun. I'm fine."

"No, you aren't," He said, shaking his head, "I can see that you aren't yourself, and you haven't been since the Rescue operation." He smiled at her. "You once tried to talk to me about what was bothering me, and I pushed you away. Don't make the same mistake I did."

She glanced at him in surprise then looked away. After a moment, she closed her eyes as she nodded.

"Alright, I'll tell you."

She sat back down in her chair, and he sat down across from her.

"I... guess that almost dying tends to put things in perspective, huh?" He raised an eyebrow as she continued. "When we almost died there, a few weeks ago…" She shuddered, and started again. "I told you that I wasn't on good terms with my mom, and that's true. But when I was there in the lobby, about to die, I couldn't stop thinking about what it would do to her."

She sighed. "She never got over Dad's death. She goes out and hangs around with all these different men, and…" She blew air out of her mouth in frustration. "It pisses me off. It's like she's forgotten about Dad, pretending like he didn't exist, all because she couldn't deal with the fact that he loved her and never came back. Now…" She shook her head. "Anyway, I thought, before I came here, 'If I find out what happened to Dad, for real, she'll stop being so flaky, and finally move on.'"

He smiled at her warmly. "You can't stand your mother, but you care an awful lot about her… It says a lot about you."

She smirked at his words. "Thanks. But like I was saying before, if I died, here and now… I won't have found out anything about the truth of his death. In addition, my mom would probably crumble completely from the loss. That's why I want to know the truth, now."

He smiled in sympathy. "You're scared."

She nodded, a tear running down her face. "..So much. And to know that these things are just going to keep getting stronger…" She started to break down, a sob of fear breaking out. "I'm so scared, dammit!"

He quickly walked over to her, and put his arms around her. She cried into his shoulder as he rocked her back and forth. "It's ok, Yukari. It's ok. It's ok, little sis…"

She held on to him until her fears had been calmed. When she had collected herself, she smiled at him. "D-did you call me… little sis?"

He froze for a second before smiling bashfully, a blush of embarrassment on his face. "Slip of the tongue, honest. Sorry."

She smiled at him again. "No, it's ok. I… kind of like it. I never had a brother before, but if I did… I'd want him to be like you." He smiled brightly at that. She tilted her head. "Do you remember anything about Makoto?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "You remember her name?"

She nodded. "She was important to you, of course I'd remember."

He shrugged. "Well, like I said before, it's only bits and pieces. I remember… I called her my little sister, but she was only younger than me by a few minutes. She was a pain to deal with sometimes, but she was always kind to those that deserved it. She had a great sense of humor, even at the end. I remember that she told me a joke just before she died, making the pain hurt just a little bit less."

She smiled sadly. "She sounded like a great girl. I'm sorry for your loss again."

He nodded, returning her smile. "…Doesn't feel like she's gone sometimes…" He murmured.

She smiled brightly at that, then suddenly yawned. "Well, it's late," She said after yawning. "I should head to bed. Good night, Minato-kun."

"Good night, Yukari…" He replied, watching her leave the room looking like she was 5 pounds lighter. With that dealt with, he headed to bed himself. It looked like things were going to get interesting during the next meeting. He sighed.

_I just hope that we're ready for it. What could possibly so bad, that you won't tell us Mitsuru? _

_._

_._

_._

**_Edit AN: Whew, that was a fun chapter to do. The whole kinda-sorta-maybe date with Mitsuru that I added to this was born out of a desire to show their relationship deepening before the events that happen later in the story. I had a _****lot ****_of fun writing that scene, making me look forward to doing more with the two of them in the future. As for the rest of the chapter, it's pretty much the same, just edited and rearranged. As always, please send me a PM or write a review if you have any questions, concerns or if you just liked the chapter. Hope to see you in the next one! – Dr. Ninja _**


	8. June 23rd - July 7th

June 23rd, 2009

* * *

With a loud gurgle and groan, Minato's stomach painfully reminded him of just how empty it currently was. He scowled as he walked towards the strip mall and, more importantly to him, Hagakure Ramen. Why had he agreed to be Mitsuru's deputy again? If he'd known that joining Student Council would have meant skipping lunch _and_ staying late after school, he might have just left Mitsuru hanging that day.

_Ugh, who am I kidding? I'd have done it again in a heartbeat, especially seeing how far we've come these past few weeks… Still, it doesn't change the fact that she made me skip lunch to go to that damn meeting Odagiri called. Ugh, I'm so whipped and I'm not even dating her…_

As Minato approached the entrance to Hagakure Ramen still lamenting the state of his love life, he suddenly saw a familiar head of silver hair duck inside. His eyebrow rose in confusion. What was Akihiko doing out this late? Was he _that_ hungry for ramen? Curious, he stepped up to the door and opened it a crack. Looking inside, he saw Akihiko sit down next to a scowling guy with a beanie and a red trench coat, who had evidently already been eating there.

The other guy looked familiar. He racked his brain for a moment, trying to remember where he'd seen him… Minato's eyes widened. It was the guy who had been in Akihiko's hospital room that day they'd gone to visit him! His eyebrow furrowed. Why was Akihiko meeting him here? He put his ear next to the crack in the door, hoping he'd be able to hear their conversation.

"How can you eat the same thing all the time without getting sick of it?" Akihiko asked his companion, his voice thankfully carrying through the mostly empty ramen bar. Minato snorted quietly at that comment.

_Says the protein freak…_

"Shut up," the guy replied, giving Akihiko a glare. "You always eat that protein shit, so my taste for ramen is tame in comparison." Minato's eyes widened. Either the guy was psychic or he must have known Akihiko for quite a while. No one Akihiko was simply acquainted with could talk to him like that and not get their front teeth knocked in… plus his comment about Akihiko's protein addiction had been on point.

Further proving his point, Akihiko simply smirked at the rude comment. "Hmph… Fair enough…"

At that point, the chef brought Akihiko a bowl of steaming hot ramen. Minato's stomach growled loudly at the sight, making him recoil away from the door for fear of being heard. He sighed under his breath.

_This is why you don't eavesdrop on an empty stomach…_

As Minato turned back to continue his eavesdropping, Akihiko took a few bites of his food, causing Minato's mouth to water. A burning temptation to simply step through the door and order some of that delicious looking food ran through him, but he resisted… barely.

Thankfully, Akihiko stopped eating and turned to look at his friend at that point, sparing Minato's sanity. "So, you still haven't made up your mind?"

His friend scowled. "Is that what this is about? Goddamn it, Aki…" He shook his head. "Just once, I'd like to eat with you without you bringing it up."

Akihiko scowled right back, un-cowed by his friend's gruff demeanor. "We've got four new members. Four. Things have changed quite a bit since you left. We're more aggressive now, and-"

"I'm not interested," His friend interrupted. "So save the sales pitch."

Akihiko shook his head, undeterred. "Come on… please think about it, Shinji. Don't let your power go to waste."

Wait, he was a Persona-user? He knew about SEES too… The thought made Minato think back to what Mitsuru had told him right after they'd fought the first time. SEES had had a previous member who had lost control of his Persona. It was because of him that they'd trained him so hard to fight without a Persona instead of relying on one that was potentially unstable. Was this him?

'Shinji's' response all but confirmed his identity. "…My power?" He asked with a scoff. "It ain't worth shit…"

Akihiko's face twisted in anger. "Shinji…!"

Shinji just looked at Akihiko, similarly un-cowed by Akihiko's anger. "I made up my mind a long time ago, Aki. I ain't going back. Not now, not ever."

"You have to let the past go, Shinji," Akihiko said, shaking his head. "What's done is done. It's time you moved on. How long are you gonna waste your life, wishing things were different?"

Shinji's face twisted with pain and anger for a moment, then settled into a scowl. "…You're one to talk," He muttered as he leant into his food.

"What?" Akihiko looked like he had been punched in the gut.

"Face it, Aki… You're no different than me." A second later, Shinji finished his food with a loud slurp and stood up. He looked at Akihiko with a withering glare. "I'll keep doing my penance _my_ way, not yours."

With that, Shinji started walking towards the door. Minato quickly stepped away to pretend to look at the menu. The door slid open a second later as Shinji walked out. He glanced at Minato before doing a double take, appearing to recognize him. "Hey, you."

_Shit, did he see me? _

"…I remember you," Shinji said with a smirk. "You showed up and saved those friends of Aki's a couple of weeks back. Came in and ripped out one of those asshole's piercings if I remember right." He gave Minato an impressed look. "Good work, by the way. It was great not having those pricks around for a while."

"Uh, thanks… I guess."

"So…" Shinji looked from side to side before leaning in. "You know about the Dark Hour, right?" Minato nodded, earning another smirk from Shinji. "In that case, take care of Aki for me, would you? The idiot tends to get in over his head sometimes."

Minato smirked. "Yeah, he does get a bit overexcited during fights." He held out his hand. "Minato Arisato."

He took Minato's hand and shook. "Shinjiro Aragaki. See you around."

With introductions done, Shinjiro turned and walked away without another word, Minato watching him go. He shook his head as the trench-coated teen disappeared into the stairwell.

_What happened to you, Shinjiro? Why do you hate your power so much?_

His stomach growled again, providing him both a way to find out and to satiate his voracious hunger. He quickly opened the door to Hagakure Ramen and stepped inside. Akihiko was still sitting, staring into his bowl of ramen intently, deep in thought. Minato walked over and sat down in Shinjiro's vacated seat. "Mind if I sit here?"

Akihiko jumped. "Oh, Minato… I didn't see you come in. Why are you out so late?"

"I'll have a house special please, thanks Boss." He said before turning back to Akihiko. "Freaking Student Council... Odagiri's going nuts trying to find this bathroom smoker, and we've had to do damage control for the past week." He laid his head on the countertop. "If I have to address one more goddamn complaint about that guy, I'm gonna kill him myself…"

"…I don't think I've ever been so glad to reject an offer from Mitsuru in my life before now," Akihiko said with a smirk. "Student Council seems to agree with you though, if Mitsuru's word is anything to go by."

"Oh?" Minato asked with feigned disinterest.

He nodded. "She's been really impressed by how much you've taken to the role, despite the difficulties you've already faced. She's upset she didn't try harder to get you in sooner."

He smiled at that for a moment before his stomach reminded him of how much it had cost him. "Ugh, praise aside, I still can't believe I agreed to this…" He shook his head. "Oh well, no sense crying over spilt milk…" With a snort, Akihiko returned to his eating, ending the conversation before Minato could broach the topic of Shinjiro. How should he approach this?

"So," Minato said lightly, "I met Shinjiro, outside."

"Wuh?!" Akihiko said through a mouthful of noodles, nearly doing a spit take. He swallowed and put down his chopsticks before turning and looking at Minato. "You did? What did he say to you?"

Minato smirked. "Just told me to take care of you, make sure you didn't do anything reckless."

"Yeah," Akihiko said, his shoulders relaxing, "Sounds like Shinji alright."

At that moment, Minato's food came, and he dug into his food like he hadn't eaten in days. The broth and the noodles were like pure heaven in his mouth. He ate voraciously for a few moments before stating, "He's the former member, isn't he? The one Mitsuru-san told me about."

"She told you about that?" Minato nodded, causing Akihiko to sigh. "…Shinji and I have been best friends since the orphanage. He and I grew up together, along with my sister, Miki."

Minato's eyes widened. "You have a sister?"

"…Had," Akihiko said with a wince. "…She died in the fire that destroyed the orphanage."

Minato closed his eyes regretfully. "I'm sorry, Akihiko…"

Akihiko shook his head. "It's ok. Anyway, Shinji and I were always together after that. We got recruited into SEES pretty soon after it formed, 2 years ago."

"What exactly happened?" Minato asked. "Mitsuru-san mentioned something about his Persona being uncontrollable…?"

"Yeah, you could say that…" Akihiko said with a grimace. "During one of our last missions to cleanse the city of Shadows, we found a group of them attacking a woman and her kid in an alleyway. Long story short, we managed to defeat them, but Shinji suddenly lost control. His Persona went berserk, and it… killed the woman."

"Oh, god…" Minato said with a grimace. He could only imagine what that must have been like… The thought sent a shiver up his spine.

Akihiko shook his head regretfully. "…It broke him. He quit the group and started going to that place behind the train station to live. What he does nowadays, no one knows…"

"That's…" Minato started before shaking his head. "This makes Mitsuru-san's behavior back then a lot more understandable."

Akihiko raised an eyebrow in confusion. Minato gave him a smirk. "She put me through that endurance training with you that morning after my recruitment, remember? After that particular brand of torture, she took me up on the roof and made me spar against her." He shook his head. "Long story short, all of that crap she put me through was to try and make me quit SEES. Later, she told me it was because she didn't want me to use my Persona if it was going to end up like Shinjiro's."

"Ah, so that's why…" Akihiko shook his head, smiling. "Sounds like something she would do."

With that, the two fell into an awkward silence. Both chose to focus on their food as they pondered what they had learned. After a minute, Minato finished his food and smiled at Akihiko. "Thanks for sharing that with me, Akihiko. It really puts things into perspective."

Akihiko nodded absentmindedly, still deep in thought. "Yeah…"

"You know," Minato said lightly, "I could try talking to Shinjiro, next time I see him. I don't know exactly what it's like, but I do know a bit about what he's going through."

He appeared to give it some thought before grinning exasperatedly. "…Why not? Maybe he'll listen to you."

"Ok, but in return? I want you to lay off on the recruitment shit, ok?" Akihiko turned and gave him a surprised look. Minato just smirked. "Of course I was eavesdropping: I'm a detective, after all. So, the next time the two of you meet up, I want you to just sit down and eat with him. No Dark Hour, no Persona, nothing like that… Just be the friend that he needs you to be."

Akihiko's face contorted with anger for a second before settling into a small grin. "…Heh, I guess I have been nagging him a bit hard. I can't even remember the last time I just sat down and talked with him either…"

"It's all I ask, Akihiko," Minato said lightly. "Shouldn't be too difficult, I think."

"…You're right," Akihiko said with a nod. "…Thanks, Minato."

Minato shrugged. "It's what I'm here for. I'll see you back at the dorm."

Akihiko nodded and turned back to his food as Minato walked back out into the warm June night.

* * *

Takeda shuddered as he felt himself awaken. First thing he noticed: his head hurt something awful, as if he'd just woken up after going on a 2-day bender. He shook his head to clear his mind then gasped as he looked around. There were no lights anywhere. The puddles of rainwater around the courtyard had all turned the color of blood, and the moon had become a bright, bright yellow. He shook his head again, hoping it would turn the world right again. "What the hell is this?!"

A voice sounded out behind him. "Good evening."

Takeda whirled towards the originator of the voice. He saw 3 people standing off to his side: two women and one male. The woman in front, a tall brunette with bright blue eyes and a pretty face came walking up to him. The others, a blue haired teen with a scowling face and a red haired girl in a white gothic sundress, spread out and began looking around the alley.

"W-who are you?" He stammered out.

The brunette chuckled. "Surprised? I certainly was, the first time I came here. Turns out that this has been here the whole time… A secret hour for people like me to do naughty things in the night."

Takeda's eyes widened. He chuckled nervously. "Eh-heh… L-Listen, lady, you're cute and all, but I really just wanna go home right now and-"

"What?" She said, disappointed. "You can't go home right now, silly! We haven't played our game yet. Jin!"

The scowling blue haired teen, Jin, walked over to him and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it up to the moonlight so Takeda could see. "This is you, right?" He asked curtly. "Name, age, address, etc…?"

Fear rising in his belly, Takeda looked at the paper closely. A moment later, he gasped. They had everything! His name, his age, even the names of his friends! "What the hell?" He shouted, backing away from Jin. "Who the hell are you guys?"

Jin smirked, a nasty look on his face as he stuffed the paper back into his green windbreaker. "Sorry, can't tell you. We're professionals. But I can tell you this: Someone has your number, buddy."

Takeda's eyes widened. He had heard rumors from some of his friends about a revenge website, one run by a group of professionals who would take revenge on anyone for whoever would hire them. "No way… the rumors were true?"

The brunette laughed. "Ah, he's heard of us. Good. That makes the next part so much more enjoyable!" A knife suddenly appeared in her hands before she flew across the space between them. He felt pain burst out through his abdomen as the knife entered and twisted. Takeda fell to his knees, clutching his side, blood pouring out between his fingers. He screamed for a moment before her knife flashed out again, the blade cutting his throat, silencing his cries. Grasping his throat, he slid to the ground.

The brunette laughed again as she began cleaning the blood off of her knife and hands. "Ah, I love the sound they make when the knife goes in. Such an amazing sound of anguish…"

Jin shook his head. "You know, professionals aren't supposed to take so much joy in their work, Inari."

The brunette, Inari, laughed and stepped over to Jin, kissing him passionately. After a moment, she pulled away. "Aw, Jin…" She said, a hint of disappointment in her tone, "Why do you always have to go and rain on my parade? You know I don't like that."

Dazed, he just shook his head, collecting himself. "…Someone has to try and rein you in, sometimes."

Inari giggled. "Ooh, do you promise me?"

The red haired girl stood over Takeda as his vision faded. She felt the life leave him as the light faded from his eyes. "He's dead," She said, her voice cold and regretful.

Inari just gave her a predatory smile. "Good, job's done. Let's head back then before the boss gets worried." She glanced at Jin, giving him a teasing look. "Someone needs to 'rein' me in anyways."

Blushing, Jin glanced at the red haired girl, who looked askance back at him after Inari's implication. He shrugged at her unspoken question and followed Inari down the alleyway, sighing. Someday, she was going to be the death of him.

Somehow, he was alright with that.

* * *

June 30th, 2009

* * *

Minato sighed as he neared the dorm. It had been a long few weeks. Odagiri had finally caught the smoker, having eased off his investigation at Minato and Mitsuru's insistence. The culprit had turned himself in, and Odagiri had shown remarkable maturity in his punishment, making the culprit clean the bathrooms for a few days instead of the expulsion he had promised at the beginning. Thus, a ton of paperwork had needed to be done, and he was just getting home because of it.

As he neared the dorm, he saw Yukari and Fuuka just outside crowded around a grey-haired Shiba Inu. He raised his eyebrows in amusement and walked over to them. "Hey ladies, what's up? What's with the dog?"

"Koro-chan, go say hi to Minato-san," Fuuka said with a smile.

The dog barked in acknowledgement and walked over to Minato, sitting down in front of him before barking happily up at him. Minato smiled and bent down to pet him. "Hello there, little buddy. What's your name?"

"His name is Koromaru," Yukari said with a smile. "He used to belong to the priest who ran the Naganaki shrine. A couple of months ago, the priest was hit by a car and died. Koromaru mostly stays by the site of the accident now, but he always goes on daily walks around the city, like he used to with the priest."

Minato's smile dampened at the sad story, but he continued to pet the Shiba Inu. "You are a strong little guy, aren't you? I'm sorry for your loss." Koromaru barked and whined a little, then licked Minato's palm. After petting the dog for a few more seconds, Minato stood up and looked at Yukari. "So how did you know all of that?"

"A lady walking by told us."

"Ah, ok," Minato said with a nod. "I was kind of hoping for a surprising revelation, like you can suddenly talk to dogs or something."

Yukari laughed. "Hah! I wish."

"So, Fuuka, what's…" He stopped. Fuuka appeared to be deep in thought, staring intently at Koromaru as the dog began walking away. Raising an eyebrow, Minato waved his hand in front of her face, and she shook awake.

"Huh, what?" She asked, confused.

Minato smirked. "You ok, Fuuka? You were out of it there for a second."

"I thought that I felt…" Fuuka turned and stared after Koromaru again before shaking her head. "No, it can't be. Never mind…"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "I thought for a second _you_ were gonna tell me you could talk to dogs. I was about to freak out."

"Unfortunately not," She said with a smirk. "It would be nice, but Lucia can't do that… yet."

He stared at her in surprise. She simply smiled in response. "What? I can't make jokes?"

He just laughed.

* * *

_The first thing he noticed when he appeared in the expanse was the increasingly familiar weight of a small person wrapped around his waist. He looked down and Pharos was latched onto him in a hug. He smirked as he heard Jehuty chuffing in laughter behind him. _

_When Pharos let go of him a second later, he turned around, glaring at his Persona. "Laugh it up, birdbrain."_

_"Hello, Minato," Pharos said, smiling brightly, "How are you doing? I missed you."_

_Minato laughed. "I noticed. What occasions the hug?"_

_"It's only a week before the next full moon," He said, his smile dampened. "The last few times have been close for you, so… I just wanted to see that you are well."_

_Minato smiled. "Thanks for the concern buddy, but I have a good feeling about this one. The team has never been closer, and we are expecting them this time."_

_"Nevertheless, don't underestimate your opponent," Pharos said, shaking his head. "They have other ways of harming you than just physical, you know."_

_Minato shrugged. "Well, we'll deal with that when it comes around, alright?"_

_"Of course… I have faith in you and your friends."_

_Minato reached out and hugged Pharos back. "Thanks buddy. I'll do my best to keep my ass intact."_

**_"Good," _**_Jehuty said with a nod,__** "I'd hate for Mitsuru to have to execute us for ruining your best physical feature."**_

_Minato froze. He spun around to look at his Persona, a blush burning on his cheeks. "W-What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_**"**__**Exactly what it sounds like!" **__Jehuty replied, his shoulders shaking in amusement._

_Feeling his connection to the world slipping, Minato swore loudly as he heard Jehuty's cackling get farther and farther away._

* * *

He woke up and immediately facepalmed. "Ok, even my frigging subconscious is making fun of me and my love life. What has the world come to?"

* * *

July 7th, 2009

* * *

Tonight was the night of the full moon. Anxiety had run rampant through the team all day. Hell, Minato had barely been able to pay attention during class, he was so on edge. He practically ran back to the dorm as soon as class was over. Once he got there, however, he had taken to pacing up and down the stairs for the rest of the day, just to burn the nervous energy. The rest of the group had not been much better, each of them doing different activities to calm their nerves. The only one who didn't seem to be anxious was Akihiko, but he was always on edge.

Once the Dark Hour struck, he and the rest of SEES including the Chairman filed into the 4th floor command room. Fuuka summoned her Persona and began scanning the city for the Shadow. After a few minutes passed, Mitsuru sighed. "Do you have a location yet, Yamagishi?"

"Almost got it…" She said before her eyes snapped open. "I found it! It's in a building on Shirakawa Boulevard!"

Ikutsuki made a choked noise. Mitsuru glanced at him. "You know the place, Ikutsuki-san?"

Ikutsuki rubbed the back of his head, a blush on his face. "Erm…in a manner of speaking…" At Mitsuru's questioning glance, he shook his head. "Well, they've been finding the Lost in pairs, recently, and… now it makes sense."

"Wait, you don't mean…!?" Minato made a choking noise himself as he recognized the implication. "Why the hell would it pick a place like that?"

Junpei tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? Shirakawa Boulevard is where- Oh!" His eyes widened. "I get it now. It's where _those _hotels are."

"…Thanks, Junpei, why don't you spell it out for the rest of us?" Minato asked sarcastically. "It definitely wasn't awkward enough as is."

"Sorry, boss," Junpei said, laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I just… Yeah…"

"Ugh…" Yukari groaned, grimacing at the implication. "Maybe I shouldn't go…"

"You're just like a little kid, Yuka-tan," Junpei said with a smirk. "Heh heh…"

Yukari turned and glared at Junpei before looking at Minato concernedly. His eyes widened as he realized why she was so uncomfortable. If what she'd told him was true, her mom had probably been to a few of these hotels before…

"Lay off, Junpei," Minato said harshly. "I understand her concern."

"…Got you, Boss." Junpei gave Yukari a regretful look. "Sorry, Yuka-tan."

She shook her head. "It's ok, Junpei…" She stepped forward, giving Minato a serious look. "I want a piece of the action this time, Minato-kun. Take me with you."

His eyes widened in surprise. At his insistence, Yukari had not been a part of the last few expeditions to Tartarus. Instead, she had opted to take the time to get to know Fuuka better. Her mood had improved significantly since speaking with Minato a few weeks ago, and it now seemed as though she wanted to conquer her fears. He smiled.

_It takes guts to willingly go into danger again like this, especially considering what happened last time… and then add a place that has all this baggage for you, on top of that…? Good luck, Yukari. I'll do what I can to help._

He nodded before looking at Mitsuru and Junpei. "Ok, you two are up as well. Get ready."

Akihiko shook his head in disappointment. "I never get to do anything…"

Minato turned and gaped at him. "You've been on every expedition into Tartarus this past month, Akihiko!" He was like a little kid being told he couldn't have ice cream after eating half a box of chocolate bars. "Let the others have this one, and the next full moon is yours, I promise."

Akihiko grumbled disappointedly, but nodded. "…Alright."

He sighed heavily. Being leader was like herding cats sometimes. "Ok, let's head down there. Fuuka, lead the way."

* * *

When they got to the hotel Fuuka had mentioned, Minato was convinced that he needed a shower as soon as he got back to the dorm. Shirakawa Boulevard was evidently in an already bad part of town, and the building that Fuuka had stopped in front of had not convinced him that it was any different. He mentally sighed as he was unpleasantly reminded of Pharos' warnings a week ago.

_Well, nothing he could have said would really have prepared me for this…_

After stopping in front of the building, Fuuka had summoned her Persona and said she was ready to go. Yukari, Junpei, Minato, and Mitsuru quickly checked their weapons then walked inside. The lobby was a grimy mess, the Dark Hour not doing any favors to the shabby interior. Yukari shuddered at the sight then caught herself. Minato nodded in approval. Now wasn't the time to be thinking on the past.

They began moving carefully throughout the building. "Fuuka, any sign of contact?" Minato whispered as they started up the stairs to the second floor.

_"__Negative," _she replied over the link. "_I don't see anything apart from the Full Moon on the top floor. Still, be careful."_

"Of course…" Minato replied with a smirk, "I'm always careful."

_"__Keep telling yourself that, Senpai…"_

Fuuka's intel was good, as always. When SEES finally got to the suite where the Full Moon Shadow was a few minutes later, they still had not faced a single Shadow. Minato grimaced. It didn't sit right with him, not at all. Pharos might have been right after all.

"Ok," He said, turning and addressing the team. "We go in full force and we take this thing down as quickly as possible. This could be a trap, and if we're gonna end up springing it, we make sure that thing dies instead of us. Got it?" His team nodded back to him, and a wave of affirmation came from Fuuka. "Alright, on the count of 3…"

Taking positions on either side of the door, Minato held up 3 fingers. "Three… two… one!" With explosive action, they opened the door to the suite and rushed in, weapons at the ready.

The Shadow seemed to consist of two entities tied as one: A large overweight man sitting in a chair and a womanish figure draped over his shoulders. The Shadow roared in reaction to their intrusion and the door slammed shut behind them. Sure enough, it was a trap.

_"It's a Hierophant, so watch out!" _Fuuka called out._ "Its head is its weak point, but it seems to be resistant to most elements. It repels Dark as well, so be careful, Minato-senpai!"_

That could be a problem for this team. Resistances to magic meant that in order to finish this fight quickly, they'd have to physically get close to the Shadow to attack, since all of their Personae were magic-based. Suddenly he wished he'd actually brought Akihiko for this fight.

_Not gonna let him know that though… He'd be insufferable otherwise._

Turning his thoughts back to the task at hand, Minato quickly surveyed the state of the battlefield. It was a very large room with a oval-shaped bed in the middle, surrounded by four pillars. It had a glass door on the side of the room, presumably leading to a shower room, and a large mirror on the right hand wall.

The Shadow was currently sitting in front of the bed, with two of the pillars protecting it on its left and right flank. He cursed internally. That made it hard for them to surround the target, and forced them to funnel into a relatively small arc to attack. This would be tough. Still, he had confidence.

In one practiced motion, Minato put his hand-gun to his head and fired. "Jehuty! Matarukaja!" Jehuty appeared behind him and crooned as red energy emitted from his body, enveloping his fellow members. With that done, Minato signaled for his team to close distance. As they attempted to get close enough to the Shadow to attack however, a wave of fear suddenly enveloped them. The more they tried to push through it, the harder it hit, eventually forcing them to retreat.

Panting as the fear slowly wore off, Minato shook his head. He didn't understand it. He knew that it was irrational, but it appeared they couldn't get close without retreating in terror. As much as he hated it, they needed to change their strategy. It would be a gamble, but it looked to be their only choice.

"This isn't working!" He yelled. "Attack from range, guys! Pour it on!" He then put his hand-gun up to his head and summoned Jehuty. "Marakunda!" He saw the Shadow wilt a little as its skin and resistances weakened and became more susceptible to their attacks. Junpei summoned Hermes to keep the Shadow panicked. "Agilao!"

A burst of flame caused the male Shadow to become engulfed. The female Shadow attempted to pat out the flames, but she found her arms assaulted by spikes of ice as Mitsuru's Persona entered the fight. The creature wailed, and a burst of energy expanded from it. The flames went out and the spikes fell out of its arms as it overcame the weakness Jehuty had inflicted. It screamed in anger and pain as lightning seemed to gather around it.

Minato grimaced. That was a bigger lightning spell than anything that Akihiko had been able to conjure thus far, and was unsure of how to avoid it. He was about to order a retreat to cover when he glanced over at Yukari. She had her bow pulled taught and ready, arrow trained on the Shadow's head. After a tense uncertain moment, she let her arrow fly.

It impacted the male Shadow right in its head, causing it to snap back with the recoil. The feminine half froze as if she had been hit as well, and, after a tense, quiet moment, they both melted into a puddle of Shadowy gore.

Yukari smirked. "Take that, you son of a bitch…"

* * *

Minato felt stunned. The past few times they had gone up against these types of Shadows, they had nearly lost their lives. In comparison, they had hardly broken a sweat this time. Yukari had taken one incredible shot, and ended a fight that was turning out to have been a nightmare.

He smirked incredulously as Junpei excitedly ran over to Yukari. "Yuka-tan, _that_ was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!" He said enthusiastically, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. "I mean, you looked just like one of those Featherman Rangers, all calm and collected, and then… Wham! One shot, one dead Shadow! Oh, man… And with a one-liner too! Good job!" He held up his hand for a high-five.

Yukari blushed in embarrassment before high-fiving him awkwardly, a meek smile on her face. "Well, it was just… That thing was pissing me off."

"Well, you sure made short work of it!" He said with a wild grin. "…Man, that felt easy! Do we kick ass or what!?"

Minato nodded. They had come a long way as a team these past few weeks. He felt proud to be a part of them. "Fuuka," he said over the link, "One Shadow dead and gone. Call the cleanup crew… if we have one."

_"__Roger that," _She said, sending a wave of relief through the link. "_Good job, guys."_

"Well, guys," Minato said, turning back to the team with a grin on his face, "I'm buying the food tonight. That was kick-ass work, all of you. Good job."

"Well said, Arisato," Mitsuru said with a nod. "I couldn't agree more."

The four of them took one last look around the room, a sense of satisfied accomplishment falling over them before turning to leave. That sense of accomplishment lasted right until they discovered that they couldn't open the door.

"What the hell?" Junpei said as he jiggled the handle, trying to get it unstuck. "This piece of crap lock won't budge!"

Minato frowned. They had killed the Shadow, so why wouldn't the door open? Unless… He gasped in realization. This was the trap! "Fuuka, run a scan on this room right now!"

Fuuka's panicked voice came back a second later._ "I sense another Shadow in the room with you!" _

The four of them immediately leapt together, forming a circle and readying for an attack. Mitsuru immediately drew her rapier and got back into her battle stance, taking position behind Minato. "I knew that felt too easy."

"I was kind of hoping it _would_ be that easy," Minato said with a grimace. "That's what I get for being optimistic, I guess."

He scanned the room, eyes open for any sign of danger. After a few tense moments, he frowned. "If it has us trapped," He murmured, "Then why hasn't it attacked yet?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps it's hiding."

"Not for long it's not," Minato growled angrily. "Let's find this thing, kill it, and go home. I'm tired of this crap."

The four of them spread out cautiously and began searching the room. After a few minutes of them practically tearing the room apart, Minato was ready to tear his hair out in frustration. "Where in the hell could it possibly be?! Fuuka, are you-"

"_I'm still getting a reading in that room," _she said exasperatedly. _"I know it's in there!"_

Pursing his lips, he scanned the room one final time. This time, his eyes settled on the mirror on the wall. Normally, he wouldn't have looked twice at it, except for this time, he noticed a peculiar defect. He narrowed his eyes.

_Last time I checked, I wasn't a vampire..._

He whistled sharply and the other members turned to him. He pointed at the mirror and, one by one, they saw what had caught his eye.

Junpei shook his head in confusion. "Uh, where are our reflections?"

"I don't know…" Minato said as he slowly walked over to the mirror. Nothing jumped out at him once he drew closer however, causing his brow to furrow in frustration again. Curious, he warily began giving the mirror a closer inspection. Strangely, the mirror reflected everything perfectly except for the people. Maybe it was just a trick of the Dark Hour?

He shook his head. "I dunno, it's an interesting trick, but I don't think its danger…ous…" He put his hand on his head to steady himself, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "What…the…?"

He glanced into the mirror again before being knocked to the floor as a flash of light burst out of the mirror. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was a red, pulsing mass float out of the mirror.

* * *

He woke up slowly. The first thing he noticed was how comfortable he was. There weren't many things better than waking up on a comfortable bed, after all. He sighed, feeling a small sense of disappointment form in his belly. That was strange. Why would he feel so disappointed about being so comfortable? Such a strange feeling… A thought came to him, and he smiled as he realized why he was disappointed.

_What is the point of being on a bed this comfy if you aren't sharing it with someone?_

Raising his head slightly to gain his bearings, he noticed what sounded like running water coming from the shower room to his left. He turned and saw that the shower _was_ running _and_ that someone was inside it. He smiled. A familiar tone of red shone through the glass, and he felt overwhelming desire build up in his gut.

_Oh, she must have felt that a shower was in order… Maybe I should join her…_

He shook that thought out of his head. The bed was too comfy right now and he could wait… but not for too long.

_I think I've waited long enough for this already._

The sound of water suddenly ceased, causing anticipation and adrenaline to rush through his body. He sat up slowly, gazing at the door intensely. A moment later, the woman who haunted both his dreams and waking hours equally walked out, clad in nothing but a towel.

Mitsuru smiled as she stared back at him through half-lidded eyes, lust burning brightly inside of them. "Were you waiting out here for me, Mina-kun?" She said in a tone he'd never heard before. She'd been playful with him a couple of times before, but now…

The sultry passion in her voice caused his own to desert him. "I…I…"

She laughed at his stammering, her voice thick with arousal. "I never thought I'd see _you_ speechless, Mina-kun. Is that because of _me_?" He nodded, and she smiled wider. "Well, don't you know just what to say to make a girl feel good?"

He smirked and suddenly found his voice again. "...Not _just_ what to _say_…"

She laughed again, and this time, he felt the sound strike him in the gut, stirring his arousal. "Well, we'll see about _that_, won't we?" She quickly strode over to him and sat across his lap, facing him. They stared at each other for a moment before she smirked and gave him a challenging look. "Well?" She asked aggressively. "I'm waiting, Mina-kun…"

He couldn't take it anymore.

His hands shot forward to grasp her face between them as he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

He almost couldn't believe how good she tasted. She tasted just like she smelled, a fragrant mix of some kind of expensive perfume and her own natural scent, plus something that was _different_, yet so quintessentially _her_ that it had his head spinning. A moment later, she moaned into his mouth and began kissing him back with almost equal intensity.

He didn't know how long they sat there, plundering each other's mouths. After what felt like hours, he finally pulled away, gasping for breath as his lungs screamed for air. Mitsuru seemed to be in the same state as him, chest rising and falling as she panted for breath. A moment later, however, she grabbed his shirt aggressively and stared lustfully into his eyes, noses centimeters from each other. "We…aren't done yet," She growled at him.

This time, _she_ kissed _him_. A mix of joy and arousal soared through him at the fulfillment of his heart's desire. It was heavenly. He knew at that moment that he was addicted to her. He wanted her so badly. She'd already become a huge part of his life, and now he wanted her in every other part of it too. He wanted to tell her all of his secrets, his pain, his fears, his hopes and dreams…

He wanted to share himself with her completely. He was prepared to give her the world, if she asked him.

After what felt like another hour, they broke for air again. Minato felt sudden strength enter his limbs as he picked her up and practically threw her on the bed under him, hovering over her. She looked up at him, coy smile on her face, eyes burning with lust and affection. He leaned in and started to kiss down the side of her throat. A wave of pleasure shot through him as he heard her moan in response. She ran her hands through his hair as she moaned, "Oh, Minato, _please_…"

Hearing his name was like having a bucket of cold water poured on his head. The memories of what they had been there to do rushed through him all at once. He froze immediately as he realized what it was he was doing. He pushed off of the bed, horror at himself stealing his breath away.

_Oh, god... I kissed her. I kissed Mitsuru, and I would have done more if she hadn't…_

Panic and disgust at himself shot through his body. She was going to kill him for this. Hell, he wasn't sure that he even wanted to stop her.

Still under the spell, Mitsuru groaned in frustration at the lack of physical contact. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him, disappointment written on her face. "Come back, Mina-kun. I'm not done with you yet." He forced himself to turn away as that familiar feeling of blind arousal shot through him again. He fought the urge to turn back as hard as he could. He could hardly breathe. He needed her to snap out of it _now_, before he fell under the spell again.

_How though?! How do I…?_

Her name. He needed to say her name. He turned around, looked her straight in the eyes and said, in as level a voice as he could muster, "Mitsuru… I need you to wake up. _Please_…"

Her eyes fluttered as she overcame the spell that had been cast on her. Dawning horror appeared on her face as she slowly realized what had happened, what she'd been doing. His eyes pricked as tears began to form. He couldn't watch this. He turned away again, closing his eyes in pain. "Um, Mitsuru…?" He asked nervously. "A-are you awake now?"

"Y-yes…" she replied, her voice as nervous as his. "Min- Arisato… I-I don't know…w-what to say…"

He swallowed. That wasn't a good sign. "Um, well," He said as lightly as he could, "The Shadow that did this is probably still out there. So, uh… I'll wait out in the hall while you… dress…" He walked towards the door as fast as he could, fear and shame rolling throughout his body.

"Wait, Minato?!"

He stopped and grimaced. "Yes, Mitsuru…?"

"D-did we…?" She asked hesitantly, voice full of emotion.

He shook his head quickly. "No," He answered with conviction. "It…It was close though…" He hung his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for this."

She said nothing in response, so he stepped out into the hall, fear gripping his heart as he felt it break into a million tiny pieces.

* * *

Mitsuru stepped outside a few minutes later. She felt awful. A voice in the back of her mind had been yelling at her to stop the whole time they'd been… well. It had been yelling that this wasn't what he wanted, that she was betraying his trust. She refused to listen to it for some reason, too caught up in the feelings of warmth, care, and affection she felt for him.

She was disgusted with herself. She knew that she liked him a lot, perhaps even as more than a friend, but that had been going too far. He had just started to come to terms with Haruya's betrayal a month ago. She shook her head. He wouldn't forgive her for this, not in a million years.

Hearing the door close, Minato glanced up at Mitsuru out of the corner of his eye as she stepped forward. She looked angry. He didn't blame her. He hadn't even considered what it was he was doing at the time: He had just taken what he had wanted from her, selfishly.

He was disgusted with himself. Even knowing her past and how she'd been betrayed, he had let himself be swept up in the hungry attraction and warm affection that he felt for her. He knew that he wanted to be with her, but that? That was going too far.

He had taken advantage of her to fulfill his heart's secret desire, and he knew she would never forgive him for that.

Minato nodded to her after a moment, avoiding her eyes, and started walking towards the stairs. Before he could start up the stairs however, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, stopping him. He turned around to see Mitsuru with a vulnerable expression on her face. His eyes widened in surprise. Where he'd expected cold rage, he'd gotten… fear?

"I… feel as if we should talk about this, Minato… Tonight, I mean," She said hesitantly. She shook her head. "I… We _need_ to talk about what just happened in there."

Minato felt the cold grip of fear on his heart loosen just a bit at her words. Maybe she would take a small amount of mercy on him after all, and just ask that they forget it happened. He nodded, smiling just a tiny bit at her, trying to put her at ease. "Ok… Right now though, I think we should focus on destroying the thing that thinks our emotions are its personal play things."

Mitsuru smiled a bit as well, cold rage rising in her eyes. "Yes, I believe we owe it an execution, don't you?"

He nodded, letting his own rage build in his gut. "Agreed… Let's find the others."

* * *

As the two teens began walking up the stairs, a familiar voice popped into their heads. _"Mitsuru-senpai! Minato-senpai! You're okay!"_

"Yeah, we're fine, Fuuka." Minato said with fake optimism, hoping that his voice wouldn't betray him. "Where are the others?"

_"__Just up the stairs, but… what happened to you two? You both just disappeared!" _Fuuka's voice betrayed her concern. _"I thought-"_

"It doesn't matter what happened, Yamagishi," Mitsuru said curtly. "We're both fine, and that's all you need to be concerned about."

_"…__U-Understood, Senpai," _Fuuka replied, reproached. "_The others are just up ahead. I'll let them know you're coming." _With that, she connected to the other two. "_Junpei-kun, Yukari-chan, I found them! They're okay and heading up the stairs towards you now."_

A sudden thought came to Minato as they climbed the next flight of stairs, causing him to grimace. "Do…Do you think the same thing happened to them?" He asked nervously. "Cause that's gonna get real awkward if it did…"

After a moment of thought, Mitsuru pursed her lips. "…If so, we may need to make use of your healing abilities. I doubt Takeba will have been as understanding as I have."

Glancing at her in surprise for a moment, Minato snorted. "Especially with Junpei…"

Luckily, as they finished the walk up the stairs, Junpei came into view on the landing, looking none the worse for wear. "Boss, Senpai!" He exclaimed, sighing in relief. "Thank god. Are you two…?" He trailed off as he took in their obviously disheveled state. He frowned. "What the hell happened to you?"

"It's not important, and I'd rather not talk about it," Minato said, giving him a pointed look. Junpei's eyes narrowed for a moment before he nodded, making Minato sigh inwardly. That was one crisis averted. "Where's Yukari?"

"She's down that way," He said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, pointing down the corridor. "She went looking for you a few min-"

At that moment, Yukari came around the corner at the end of the hall, sighing in relief at the sight of them. "Thank god. We couldn't find you guys on this floor, and we were starting to worry. Are you guys ok?" As she walked closer, she noticed their disheveled state, her eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, uh…" She stammered. "Well, you guys look…fine… Um…"

Well, she obviously figured out what happened. He needed to change the subject before Junpei could begin to put the pieces together as well. "…We're fine, Yukari," he said, clearing his throat. "How're you two holding up?"

"Well, I'm fine," Yukari said hastily. "I woke up on a bed in one of those rooms, which was my first clue that something was wrong. So I got up, looked around the room, and it was like…something snapped. Everything that happened came rushing back to me, and I panicked. I started searching through all of the rooms, looking for you guys, and found this dork taking a nap."

Junpei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was tired. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I see…" Minato said, eyes widening. Turning away for a moment, he frowned. The Shadow had _manipulated_ their emotions, that much had been obvious, but it obviously couldn't manipulate emotions that didn't exist. Otherwise, Yukari and Junpei would have been in the same compromising position as them.

_Does that mean Mitsuru…?_

He shook his head. There was no way, absolutely no way… right?

* * *

Mitsuru barely heard Yukari's words as she took in all the evidence in front of her. Judging by the way that Iori still had his head intact and was not bleeding from every orifice due to blunt force trauma meant that the two junior members had _not _been in the same compromising position as she and Minato had been. That meant that, although the Shadow could obviously manipulate emotions, it could not, in fact, _create_ them.

_This must mean…_

She shook her head. That was not what mattered right now. The Shadow came first, then…her personal life.

Mitsuru spoke up. "We have to find this bastard and send it straight to Hell. Yamagishi, can you pinpoint its location?"

Fuuka's voice rang out. "_No need, Senpai. It's still in the same room. However, the door is sealed shut still. It's being held shut by some kind of power. Now, I can feel the power sources in a couple of different rooms throughout the hotel, but I have no idea what they look like however. You'll have to find it once I guide you there. Also, the Shadow called for reinforcements while you guys were out. Akihiko-senpai and I are fine, and he took out as many as he could, but a large amount still escaped into the hotel. You'll have to be careful this time."_

"Alright," Mitsuru said with a nod. "Good work, Yamagishi."

Fuuka send a wave of gratitude through the link. "_Now, the first one is…"_

* * *

Despite Fuuka's warning, their pace had actually _increased _the second time around. The Shadows came in droves, but Minato and Mitsuru's mutual humiliation and anger at their… circumstance gave them strength, enabling them to drive them back. By the time the group had reached the first power source, Minato and Mitsuru had both killed a vast majority of their attackers, leaving Junpei and Yukari stunned.

Sheathing his rapier, Minato looked around the room. It looked identical to every other room in the hotel, albeit much smaller: A shower door on one wall, a bed in the middle, and a mirror-

He smiled in realization. "Fuuka, I think I've found it…"

He stepped up to the mirror and stared into it. He felt a now familiar tug on his mind, a mounting feeling of relaxation growing over him. Unfortunately, he knew what the Shadow's influence felt like now. He quickly whipped his rapier out of its sheath and smashed the mirror with the blunt handle. A small crack appeared where he's struck it. A moment later, the crack grew in size until the mirror suddenly looked more like a spider's web. Black smoke began to leak from the cracks.

"_That was it!" _Fuuka confirmed a moment later._ "I can sense a drop in energy levels surrounding the door!"_

"Got you now, you sonofa…" He turned to the team. "The mirrors are the power source. We break 'em, gain access to the honeymoon suite, kill this damn thing, and then go home." He smirked grimly. "Let's go guys."

The team found and destroyed the other power sources within a couple of minutes and made their way back to the Honeymoon suite. As they stood in front of the door however, Minato stopped and looked at Mitsuru with a slight grin on his face. "Do you mind if I cause a bit of gratuitous destruction as a farewell present for this wonderful place?"

"Normally I would have to say yes, I would mind… but in this case, I'm inclined to agree." She smiled a bit. "What did you have in mind?"

He smirked and raised his hand-gun to his head and fired. "Jehuty!"

Jehuty shimmered into view in front of the door to the honeymoon suite and raised his hand. An unseen force impacted the door, blowing the double doors off their hinges and sent them careening into the room. Minato managed to see part of one of the doors slam into the Shadow floating towards the back of the room, tipping it slightly. As he gazed up at the Shadow, he had no problems guessing its Arcana classification. It was a giant, floating, transparent heart. Inside, it had the symbol for male and female constantly swirling around in a dance-like motion. It also had a set of tendril-like wings, flapping away, keeping it suspended off the ground.

_Well, if that wasn't a big enough clue…_

"_I've analyzed it! It's the Lovers Arcana!"_

Of course she did. She just had to add insult to injury. Typical with how this night was going so far. "I think we could tell, thanks, Fuuka," Minato said, shaking his head as he and the team moved into the room to surround the heart-shaped Shadow.

Fuuka just sent a wave of exasperation back at him through the link in response. "_Anyways, it's extremely weak to physical, but immune to all forms of Magic. You need to get close." _

As if the Shadow had overheard them, it suddenly screeched. The black muck that preceded the arrival of Shadows started to drip from the ceiling and walls as the Shadow called in reinforcements. Minato grimaced. This was going to be a tough fight if they got overwhelmed. As much as he hated it, he needed to divide his team's efforts. He looked at Junpei and Yukari. "You two, focus on the little ones! If we get overrun, we're all dead!"

"Got it, Boss!" Junpei said with a smirk. "Leave it to me!" He quickly ran to the right side of the room and hacked a half-formed Shadow in half with his katana. He crooned excitedly as the Shadow fell apart. "Ooh, that had to _hurt_!"

Turning to him, Yukari nodded at Minato. "I got his back. You guys kill that damn thing." She then pulled out an arrow and shot it past Junpei, hitting a Shadow that had been about to fall on him. The Shadow fell apart when the arrow struck it, drenching Junpei in Shadow gore.

"What the hell, Yuka-tan?" He said, sputtering as he shook the etheric goo off of him. "You couldn't have waited until I got out of the way before doing that?"

She sighed and shook her head as she ran over to support him. "This is what happens when just you rush in like that, you idiot…"

Their flank secured, Minato turned to Mitsuru and looked her in the eyes for the first time since they'd… woken up. Determination and rage at the Shadow burned in them. He smiled at her. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Ready."

They quickly pulled out their rapiers and rushed towards the Lovers Shadow. In response, the Shadow started to shoot blasts of fire at them like a machine gun. Reacting quickly, Minato took cover behind one of the pillars near the bed, Mitsuru taking the other one. He grimaced. They couldn't get much closer to it without it frying them. They weren't fast enough to get out of the way of its fire before… He mentally smacked himself. Jehuty had an ability that he rarely used, because of how draining it was on not only him, but the others as well.

_Well, desperate times call for desperate measures._

Minato summoned Jehuty, shouting, "Masukukaja!" A yellow wave flowed out of Jehuty, enveloping his team in a yellow barrier. Time slowed as their reaction times sped up. Their muscles tightened with increased strength. He heard Junpei shout in exhilaration as the unexpected wave of strength passed through him. He looked to Mitsuru. She nodded, and held up 3 fingers. He mentally counted to 3 then burst out of cover in unison with her.

A fireball streaked toward him, but it was too slow. He pirouetted around it and took a step forward. Another fireball was there to take its place, and there was no room to dodge this one. He decided to do something daring. He quickly slashed upwards with his rapier, _cutting_ the fireball in half. It came apart at the seams, bursting into a wave of flames at the point of contact. The flames washed around him, only causing minor damage. Fortunately, the action had created an opening for him _and_ had left him ready to take action.

He jumped and thrust forward, feeling his blade make contact. It sank straight into the Shadow's flesh merely a second before Mitsuru's rapier joined his. The heart-shaped Shadow screeched in agony, acting like a great balloon. It seemed to deflate slightly as the two teens withdrew their weapons from the Shadow's body before disintegrating into a pile of black gore on the bed.

* * *

He panted in exhaustion. He was tired, scared, angry, and happy, all at the same time. He looked at Mitsuru and smiled. Surprise lit up her face for a moment before she settled into a satisfied grin. They saluted each other with their blades before sheathing them, and chuckling in exhilaration.

Junpei walked over to them, still dripping with Shadow gore, a grin on his face. "Is that it? Are we done now?"

Minato shrugged. "I dunno. Fuuka?"

Fuuka's voice came through, relief evident. _"All Shadows neutralized... for real this time. I can't sense anymore in the immediate area. Good job, everyone."_

"Thank god," Yukari said with a sigh. "Can we leave now?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Yes. I've had enough of this place myself."

"Well, gonna have to take a rain check on the food, guys," Minato said, drawing a disappointed groan from Junpei. "I just want to sleep when I get home, after a nice long shower. This place gives me the creeps."

* * *

Minato had only been sort of lying. He did want to sleep, but not until he had discussed the events of the night with Mitsuru. After they were sure that everyone else had all gone to bed, he and Mitsuru had walked up to the roof where they could discuss the night's events in private.

Mitsuru locked the door behind them before walking over and leaning against one of the ventilation units. "So, how are you feeling?" She asked lightly, her tone nervous.

He shrugged. "I'm ok. The shower helped with the exhaustion somewhat, and no real bad burns from that fireball, so it wasn't too painful."

She nodded. "Good. Good." She stood up and walked further onto the roof, obviously having trouble deciding on how to start this conversation. He sighed under his breath, willing his anxiety away as he waited for her to start. After a few moments, she turned around and looked him in the eyes. Regret burned within them. "I'm sorry."

What? He hadn't been expecting that. He had been expecting icy rage or burning fury, not…this. He shook his head in confusion. "You're sorry? Sorry for what?"

She shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I-I knew that what I was doing was _wrong_, but I just couldn't…_stop_ myself. I mean, I've never been that good at controlling how I feel, as you well know, and I just… Well, I…"

Minato's heart stopped. She knew what she had been doing? For how long, though? He had to know. He held up a hand to stop her and she froze, inhaling sharply. He took a moment to collect himself and noticed that she was staring at him with a fearful look in her eyes.

His brow furrowed. She was scared? Why was she scared? His expression softened a moment later as he realized why: She was afraid _he_ was angry with _her_. But why would he be angry at her, especially for that? If it was true… then, maybe…

"How long did you know for?" He asked quietly. "How long did you know that…that it was real?"

She swallowed nervously. "A-A second after you…" She shook her head. "…Most of it."

His heart started beating so fast, he thought it might explode. A million different emotions ran through him: Fear, Lust, Disbelief, Joy, Happiness… Was this really happening? She continued to stare at him, fear written plainly on her features. He had to know.

"So you knew you were doing all that… with me… a second after I kissed you?" Minato asked bluntly, a blush forming on his face. She nodded hesitantly. His breath hitched. "S-So, if you knew, why didn't you stop…?"

"I-I…I…" She stammered, a blush forming on her face as well. "I… I suppose…" She looked down at the ground, her blush darkening. When she looked back up at him a moment later, she gave him a small, timid smile. "I suppose I-It's because… I wanted to..."

His eyes widened in surprise before a bright smile formed on his face. He walked forward to stand in front of her and took one of her hands in his. She looked down at their connected hands then back up at him, eyes wide.

"That's all I wanted to hear," He said softly. With that, he gently reached up, took her chin in his hand, and slowly pulled her forward.

He felt his eyes close as her lips softly melded with his.

This kiss felt much different.

The others they had shared tonight had been urgent, filled with lust and abandon, fueled by the Shadow's foul influence. This one they shared now was tender, soft, and full of affection and wonder, the culmination of several months of flirting and fighting with each other, of truths shared and secrets told.

This was them showing the other how they truly felt, the pains of their past providing not a barrier, but a window to each other's heart, letting them see that they were not alone, letting them know that they were understood.

After what felt like an eternity, Minato pulled away slowly, a huge smile on his face. Mitsuru's eyes fluttered as she attempted to recover herself from the unexpected kiss. "I had the same feeling, you know…" He said, chuckling as she stared at him with both confusion and hope in her eyes. "I could feel that it was real, but…I didn't _want_ to stop."

Her face lit up, a growing smile on lips. "Oh?"

He nodded. "If I'm going to be completely honest with you, I've wanted to do that for a _very_ long time now."

"Oh, really?" She said as her smile brightened and a mischievous look formed in her eyes. "Then, why did you wait until _after_ you almost saw me naked?"

"What?!" He exclaimed, blushing a bright red. "I-I assure you that I wasn't-"

She put a finger on his lips to silence him before laughing in exhilaration and pulling him in for another kiss. His protests died away as her tender lips covered his, and time no longer seemed to matter for the two teens.

* * *

After the two of them had calmed down enough, they sat down to talk about their newly discovered feelings for each other. "You know, as happy as I am about this…development," Mitsuru said with a frown, "I can't help but feel that I am not... well, the best choice to receive your affections."

He sighed. He'd felt that this was coming. He knew that she had a lot of things to consider before even thinking about jumping into a relationship with him. Not only was she constantly busy with school and clubs, but she had the team to worry about, as well as any obligations that her family might expect of her. That wouldn't really leave a lot of private time for the two of them.

As he thought about it though, he found that he didn't really care about that. After all, he saw her every day in class, and in all of the Student Council meetings she made him go to, and when they went to Tartarus. Hell, the two of them even shared dinner often enough already due to late Student Council work. None of that other shit mattered. They could figure that out as they went.

He just knew that he wanted to be with her, no matter what.

"Why is that exactly?" He asked lightly. "Do you feel that I will abandon you for another woman if I can't see you every day?"

She flinched at his words. "No, you deserve someone who can be what you expect of a girlfriend! Someone who can spend her time with _you, _exploring and experiencing life together... Not waiting hopelessly for an end, drowning in obligations to others…"

He shook his head, a smile on his face. "I didn't realize that there were expectations of what a girlfriend should be like. There certainly don't seem to be as many restrictions on boyfriends. After all, I did tell you what I did for a living before coming here, right?"

She turned on him angrily, ready for a fight, but stopped when she saw the smile on his face. "Look, Mitsuru," He said, raising his hands placatively, "What I'm trying to say is that I don't expect you to change anything about yourself for _me_. You aren't suddenly obligated to be on my arm at every opportunity just because we start seeing each other, due to some non-existent expectation I might have." She turned away at this, unable to speak. He reached down and grasped her hand in his. "Honestly, I could just catch a glimpse of you once a month now and be happy with that. All that I want from you, Mitsuru…_is you._"

She smiled, tears of joy springing into her eyes. "I…can't say that I will always be the best girlfriend…"

He laughed. "I _definitely_ can't promise I'll be the best boyfriend."

She glared at him lightly before continuing."…But, if you are willing to try, even knowing the difficulties…then I am too."

"Ok," He said, smiling brightly, "Glad we sorted that out."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Why did I expect any kind of serious response from you right now?"

"I blame you. You bring out my inner smartass," He said with a chuckle. "…You know, after Haruya, I thought that I would never feel like this again." She gave him a questioning look. He sighed. "Feeling this connected to someone, I mean. I feel so at ease with you… So much so that, all the pain I've felt?" He smiled at her. "...It doesn't feel so painful anymore."

She smiled back at him. "For me either… I never thought I would find someone I could trust this way again. To think, I nearly ran you out of my life a few short months ago…"

"You know," Minato said with a grimace, "Since we're being honest right now… Do you remember when you asked me to join Student Council the first time?" She nodded. "Remember how you said then that you needed someone you trusted in the position?"

She nodded again. "What about it?"

"It was quite a shock at the time," He said with a shrug. "You trusted me, after a week before, you attempted to get me to quit the group. I thought, 'How could she possibly trust me that quickly?' I didn't think it at the time, but I probably thought that you were just saying that to try and get something out of me."

"I was," she said with a smirk. "I was trying to get you to lessen my work load."

"Well, I know that _now_," He replied sarcastically, "But you couldn't have just said that could you? Anyways, I wanted to tell you no right then and there, to tell you to find somebody else. But you know what I found?" He shook his head. "I couldn't. Not that I wouldn't, but I _couldn't."_ She inhaled sharply. He looked up at her, regret in his eyes. "I panicked. I knew what that meant. It had happened once before, with Haruya. I did the only thing I knew how to deal with that realization."

She nodded, pain written on her face. "You hid away from me, from us…" She shook her head. "Minato, I'm so sorry. I-"

"It's not your fault," He said with a sigh. "I was already on the downward slide by that point anyways. That was just the final kick off the cliff. Don't blame yourself."

She pursed her lips angrily. "Still, I'm the reason you-"

"No," He said harshly, looking straight into her eyes. "You aren't. If you're going to blame anyone for that, blame me… or better yet, Haruya. She's the reason I was that fucked up to begin with." He grasped her hand tighter. "You _saved_ me, understand? You helped bring me back from that place, you and the others."

She gazed at him disbelievingly for a few moments before nodding. He smiled. "Good." He shook his head as a memory came to him. "You know, if I hadn't met my Shadow in Tartarus that day, I would probably _still_ be running away from my feelings. Despite not understanding why he was there… I can't help but feel grateful he came to me." Affection shone in his eyes as he looked at her. "Now I'm here with you. Happier than I've _ever _been."

She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. "Well, as long as we're being honest with each other…"

They spent a long while on the roof just talking. When the sun started to rise, they kissed one last time before unlocking the door and walking down with hands held. Reluctantly, they separated, each entering their rooms and collapsing on their beds, their hearts content and happy as they drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

**_Edit AN: Not gonna lie, this one was a hard one. The original chapter had a lot of multiple perspectives per scene, something that I've actively been trying to cut down on in these rewrites. Trying to rewrite the scenes so that it not only conveyed the emotions and character development that I wanted it to, but also confined the scene to a single person's perspective was difficult, which is why this chapter took a few days. Luckily, I think this is really the only chapter that had this much of this problem, so, hopefully, the other chapters go much smoother from here. Additionally, I rewrote the ending scene between our two lovebirds. The original one felt like they just jumped into it too fast. I felt there was too much assumption on either character's part, so I added a bit more to it. Now (I hope) it feels like a more natural character shift, a sudden unexpected event pushing them towards a result both of them had wanted but had been too scared to attempt. In addition, the scene afterwards where he tells her what set him down his path of self-destruction a few months before should have been more of a shock to her, I feel. Now it is. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed what I did with this chapter and I hope to see you in the next one! As always, please send me a PM or leave a review if you have any questions or concerns about the chapter or story in general! – Dr. Ninja_**


	9. July 9th - 19th

July 9th, 2009

* * *

For the first time in a month, Minato actually left school on time today. Since it was the week before exams, there was nothing going on after school that he needed to worry about. Still, sad as he was to say it, he was actually missing the paperwork he'd been forced to do as a part of Student Council. Although it _had_ been boring, monotonous work, at least it had given him something to do. After ruminating on that thought for a moment, he shook his head.

_Did I really just think that? Maybe I should smack my head against the nearest wall next time I think about paperwork in a semi-favorable light._

Despite his boredom, or perhaps because of it, he still felt giddy and full of energy over what had happened a few days ago. Because of the lack of both Fencing Club and Student Council duties, he hadn't been able to talk to Mitsuru much since their foray on Shirakawa Boulevard apart from a few conversations they had shared in passing. Unsurprisingly, not much had changed between them, aside from a few more lingering touches and pointed looks here and there.

What had changed, however, was that the atmosphere and the energy between them flowed so much more naturally now. Anytime he talked to her or even looked at her, it was like he was being jolted with a car battery, sending a wave of powerful, uncontrollable energy right down his spine.

He sighed. Despite agreeing, quite vehemently in fact, to keep their new-found relationship a secret for now, he found it very hard to keep quiet at times.

Forcibly tearing his thoughts away from Mitsuru lest he start sighing happily like the love-struck idiot he was, he walked into the dorm a few minutes later to see Fuuka and Yukari sitting at the dining room table talking animatedly about a set of papers sitting between them. "Hey, ladies," He greeted as he walked over to them. "What's up with the paperwork?"

Startled by the sound of his voice, Yukari jumped out of her seat and quickly shoved the papers off the table. "Nothing," She said quickly, "Why?!"

Minato just stared at her for a moment before laughing. "Ok, seriously?" He asked, pointing at the papers now scattered all over the ground.

Yukari looked down at the scattered papers and then laughed, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess that was _really _suspicious, huh?"

"You think?" Minato shook his head. "Here, I'll help you." With that, he bent down to help pick up the papers with Yukari and Fuuka. Curious, he glanced at one of the papers in his hand, its layout familiar. It was a print-out of a local newspaper, dated around 10 years previous.

His eyes widened. This was one of the newspapers that he had looked at while investigating the Kirijo Group, the one that had reported the 'industrial accident'. It had been the one that had led him to call in a contact to try and gain more info about the lab explosion. Standing up, he placed the paper with the pile on the table and stared at Yukari, his face becoming neutral. "So, you couldn't just wait? You had to involve someone else?" He asked exasperatedly, pointing at Fuuka.

"This is precisely why I didn't ask you: You _wouldn't_ have wanted to involve anyone else." She stood up and shook her head. "Look, Mitsuru-senpai is lying to our faces about something to do with the Dark Hour and I think we all deserve answers about it." She gestured at the pile of papers. "At least this way, she can't deny that she knows something when we confront her with it."

Minato felt a strange new anger build in his gut at her tone. It was protectiveness, he realized. He shoved it down before it made him do anything rash. This was Yukari he was talking to. He wouldn't yell at her for having a point. She was just impatient and wanted answers now, and he could understand that.

However, the team could potentially be broken apart if she went about it this way, and that was something he couldn't allow, not now. Fuuka's involvement complicated matters further. Her powers were invaluable in the Dark Hour, and they couldn't afford to lose her. Maybe there was a way he could get Mitsuru to come clean...

"Yukari, all of this is circumstantial evidence, at best," He said, pointing at the papers. "If you try to bull rush her with this info, she could just as easily lie about it, saying it's all a coincidence. Then where would you be, huh?" He sighed. "…Let me talk to her. She knows I know something already, so maybe she'll be more willing to talk to me. I'll try to get her to come clean at the team meeting in 2 days. If she doesn't want to, _then_ we confront her with this evidence, alright?"

Yukari mulled it over for a few moments before nodding. "Alright, we'll do it your way."

"Good," Minato said lightly. He held up a finger. "But, if she does agree to come clean… then you have to agree to drop this grudge you have against her, alright? She's not our enemy, Yukari."

Yukari flinched, his words evidently hitting the mark. She pursed her lips as she mulled it over. "…Alright," She replied finally. "You'll tell me if she doesn't agree, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, I swear on my parents' grave." He then gathered all the papers into a pile and slid them into Yukari's bag, literally putting the object of division away. "Now that's settled, tell me, what's your plan for summer vacation?"

* * *

Fuuka breathed a sigh of relief as the tension in the air began to settle at the change of topic. She had been nervous, going behind everyone's back by researching this for Yukari, but now it seemed like she wouldn't have to worry about it. She was glad, as the SEES members had quickly become a surrogate family to her. Her own 'real' family couldn't care less about _her_. When she'd contacted them earlier today, they had just worried about whether she thought she was going to do well on the exams in a week. She sighed. That was why she didn't want to go home for the summer holiday.

_Maybe Junpei-kun will want to do something with me…_

The baseball-capped teen had become fast friends with her, despite the circumstances of their first meeting. She found him extremely easy to talk to and he made her laugh. They both shared a passion for video games, and, surprisingly, romance manga. She smiled as she remembered the time she had caught him looking at one of her favorite online manga sites.

* * *

_Fuuka walked into the lounge and saw Junpei sitting on one of the barstools, with his laptop open in front of him. She walked up behind him, and noticed a familiar logo at the top of the webpage he was looking at. She inhaled sharply in surprise. He was looking at one of the romance manga sites that she frequented. _

_Unfortunately, the noise had alerted Junpei to her presence. He slammed the laptop shut and wheeled around, clutching the laptop to his chest protectively. _

"_It was just porn, I swear!"_

_She stared at him incredulously for a moment before she burst out laughing. Junpei just stared at her for a moment, clearly confused by her reaction. The look he gave her only made her laugh harder. Breaking down, Junpei quickly followed, both of them laughing until they were both heaving for breath. After they had calmed down a minute later, Junpei fixed her with what he probably considered a serious stare, and said as seriously as he could muster, "Seriously, though, it was porn."_

_She just gave him a small smile. "Which one is your favorite?" She asked lightly. "Mine is 'Lovers in Space'."_

_He spoke before he could stop himself. "Oh, I love that one! My favorite is…is…" His face fell as he realized what he had done. He rubbed the side of his neck in embarrassment before letting his head hang. "Um…its kinda lame, isn't it? I could be out there, looking for a real girl to romance, and instead, I read about it… pathetic, huh?" _

_"So you're calling me pathetic?" She asked, glaring at him with a smile on her face._

_"__What?" His head shot up, regret written on his face. "No, no, I didn't mean that, it's just-" He stopped as he looked at the smile on her face. He smiled back, almost involuntarily. "It's not really a 'guy' thing, you know?"_

_She shook her head. "Natsuki-chan has been telling me that it doesn't matter what other people think you should be into. You like what you like, and screw the people who don't like it."_

_"__Still," He said, shaking his head, "You made that noise earlier…"_

_"__Not many people know about that site, you know, so I was just surprised to see you on there," She explained, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter to me if you like romance manga or not." She leaned in conspiratorially. "If anything, I think it's kind of cool." _

_"Really?" His eyes widened in surprise. "You really think so?"_

_She smiled and nodded. "Yup. Plus now I have someone I can share my favorites with."_

_"__Well, in that case…" He opened up the laptop, and invited her to sit next to him. "You see, this one I find really interesting. It's about a guy who…"_

* * *

"Hey, Fuuka? You in there?"

She shook herself as Minato waved his hand in front of her face. "Huh?"

Minato smiled at her. "Jeez, you were really out of it. You ok?"

"Yeah," She replied with a nod. "Just remembering something. What did you ask me?"

"I asked what are you gonna do for the summer holiday?"

She shook her head. "I don't know yet. You?"

"I dunno," He replied with a shrug. "I was thinking if I can manage it, maybe heading to my Gramps' house in the country for a few days. He owes me some answers after all… But the more I think about it, the less I care for that idea. So I have no idea."

Yukari snapped her fingers in remembrance. "Wait, didn't you say you had a cousin? You should invite her to stay here for a little while!" At that, his eyes widened comically before he suddenly slammed his head into the table. Yukari stared at him in confusion. "Something I said?"

He shook his head. "I forgot to call her…for 3 months…" His head rose up off the table, horror on his face. "…She's gonna kill me."

"How could you have forgotten to call her for 3 months?" Yukari asked, shaking her head.

"Oh, I dunno, there were a few revelations with the Dark Hour, a few close encounters with death, and, oh yeah, a long period of time where I hated literally _everything, _so I think I can be forgiven by the peanut gallery for a little lapse in judgment," He replied sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that," She replied mockingly. "So, how much of that do you plan on telling her?"

He recoiled at the suggestion. "What, are you crazy? She would want to get involved if I told her about this shit! I'm not telling her a damn thing!"

She smirked. "Then, yes, she's probably going to kill you."

"I know…" He groaned before letting his head fall back on the table. "The worst part is that I can't even blame her for it…"

"I can't believe you forgot to call her…" Yukari said with a sigh. "For a detective, you're rather dull sometimes."

"I would deny that fact," He replied, his voice muffled by the table, "But unfortunately the evidence is stacked against me at the moment…"

Fuuka smiled as the two continued their friendly banter. They really did remind her of brother and sister sometimes.

* * *

Later that night, Minato sat reading a textbook in the 4th floor lounge, waiting for Mitsuru to arrive. He had called her earlier, saying that he had to talk to her about something important. He (understandably) wasn't very excited about having this conversation. Their relationship wasn't even a week old and he was already confronting her about her secrets. Wasn't there some kind of relationship taboo on that?

He sighed anxiously. He really, _really_ hoped that this didn't blow up in his face.

The sound of the door opening caused him to look up from his textbook. He turned to see Mitsuru walk into the lounge, smiling at him brightly. "Hello, Minato. It's nice to see you."

"Likewise," He said, smiling back instinctively. "So, how've things been? I haven't seen you outside of class for more than a few minutes at a time for the past couple of days."

She sighed as she sank into the sofa next to him. "Busy. The report from Shirakawa has been…harder to write than I had anticipated."

"Really?" He asked, his smile growing. "Even harder than, 'This will probably be the hardest thing I have ever tried to write…'?"

She glared at him, but the effect was ruined by her playful smirk. "Yes, harder than that."

"Why is that, do you think?" He asked, giving her an innocent look.

She blushed heavily. "Y-You know why…" She sighed. "I don't know how to describe _why_ there is a gap in events in my report, and, at the same time, I can't just put what _really_ happened in there either."

"Why not?" He asked, giving her a smug look. "Is it…too embarrassing? Too… titillating?"

"In a way…" Her blush lightened as she smiled back, a challenging, predatory look in her eye. "…My father reads these reports too, you know."

His eyes widened in horror. "Ok, yeah, that is definitely not going in there then," He said, nodding enthusiastically. "I like not having my legs broken, after all."

"I thought not," She said with a smirk. "So why did you call me here, Minato…? That is, if you are done teasing me?"

Fear ran through his belly as his face fell. He sighed in despair. "Well, I _really_ didn't want to do this…" He said, drawing a confused look. "…but, I feel that I have to, for the sake of the team."

"What do you mean?" Mitsuru said, her expression turning serious. "What's for the sake of the team?"

"I'm going to ask you a question," he said, his expression hardening, "And you're _going_ to answer me truthfully. No bullshit, no lies." He turned to look her straight in the eyes. "What do you know about that lab explosion 10 years ago, Mitsuru?"

"What?!" She exclaimed, outrage forming on her face. He simply stared at her in response. She stared back at him angrily, fuming silently for a few moments. "I warned you what would happen if you brought that up again," She finally bit out a moment later. "I _warned_ you-"

"I know that you warned me, and I agreed to drop it, remember?" He said, holding up his hand to stop her. "And I definitely wouldn't have brought it up again like this if the others hadn't forced me to."

Her face softened as the implication hit her. "What? The others…?"

He nodded. "Yukari has been suspicious of you for a while now, and she dragged Fuuka into it to help her investigate. She's been getting close too. She's almost to the point where I'm at with her research." He shook his head. "This secret is going to come out one way or another, Mitsuru. At least this way, you're the one who gets to determine how."

"So what, I tell you now, or you make me do it in public?" She asked, hurt flashing across her face.

He gave a slightly sheepish look. "Um, I actually want you to do both."

She scoffed and threw up her hands. "Oh, so I don't have a choice then? Wonderful." She stood up and walked away from him, shoulders hunched angrily. He shook his head in frustration. This wasn't working. He wasn't the enemy, and she needed to figure that out.

"Look, Mitsuru," He said, standing up and shortening the distance between them. "You've done enough for me that I trust you and your judgement. Furthermore, I don't care one way or the other _what_ this secret turns out to be," He said soothingly. "I already knew that the Kirijo Group must have had some kind of connection to the origins of the Dark Hour. I could have pushed it, but I didn't. You know why?"

She shook her head slowly. He smiled. "If that knowledge had been _that_ relevant or important to our mission, I _know_ you would have told us by now." He shook his head. "However, it _is_ something you've kept from the rest of them, and I think by now… they deserve to know."

After a moment, she turned back to him, her face softening at his words. "You…really don't care…? Even if it had something to do with your parents…?"

"Yup," He said, nodding his head. "My parents are gone after all. I mean, sure, getting my memories back would be nice, but that isn't my end-goal anymore. That path led me to misery and self-loathing, and everything in between."

She shook her head, glaring at him angrily. "But that's the only reason why you're even here, to find out about the Dark Hour!"

"It _lead _me here, but it isn't what's _keeping _me here. Not anymore." He stepped forward, taking her hands in his. "You see, before I awoke to my Persona, I would have left once I found out whatever the origin of the Dark Hour actually turns out to be, simply because I wouldn't have cared about you or your mission. Now? I don't care about where the Dark Hour came from or why I experience it."

He grasped her hands tighter. "I want to _destroy_ the Dark Hour. I want to stop these Shadows from eating people's minds. I want to protect you and all of the others so we can accomplish that. More than that…" He smiled and brushed an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. "I want to continue to get to know the real you, the one I've had the privilege of glimpsing these past few days." His smile widened. "I trust you, Mitsuru, no matter what 'horrible' truth lies behind those beautiful eyes of yours."

Her eyes widened. She breathed in heavily for a few moments as she took in what he had said. "...Ok. I'll tell you… and the others, when we have our next meeting."

He nodded and gently pulled her back to the sofa before gesturing for her to continue. She took a deep breath. "The Kirijo Group... We've known that Shadows have many different, strange abilities for many years now, over 20 in fact. Some of the initial research even indicated that they could affect space and time. One man quickly became obsessed with discovering and harnessing the capabilities of the Shadows…" She swallowed. "His name was Kouetsu Kirijo."

He winced in sympathy. "Your grandfather…"

"You've heard of him, I take it?" He nodded in affirmation. "I'm not surprised. Your grandfather probably had a file on him."

He nodded again. "I've read it. Kouetsu Kirijo was… Well, a piece of work, to put it lightly."

"Yes, he's not well liked by me or my father." She sighed. "We know that, 14 years ago, he assembled a group of scientists and researchers to capture, contain, and research Shadows for a massive experiment. However, 10 years ago, on the cusp of the experiment's completion, the containment suddenly failed on the Shadows' cells, causing a huge explosion and killing nearly everyone involved." She grimaced. "…Unfortunately, the experiment had still produced an unwelcome and unexpected success."

_Wait, space and time manipulation…time…Oh god…_

His eyes widened. "Your grandfather… created the Dark Hour…"

"Not just the Dark Hour," she said regretfully, "Tartarus as well. The site of the lab was located on what is now Gekkoukan school grounds, which is why Tartarus exists where it does."

"My god…" He shook his head slowly. "Everything that's happened was because of your grandfather…"

She nodded before taking a breath. "…There's more. The after-action report from that night said that the Shadows that had been collected apparently formed into several large groups that then dispersed, never to be seen again… At least that's what they thought." She shook her head. "We saw the first one a few months ago, and have seen at least one every month since."

"The full moon Shadows too..." Mitsuru nodded, falling silent. "So… that's it?" He asked, getting a nod in response. He waited, blinking expectantly for a few moments before sighing heavily. "Nothing… Well, so much for my memories returning after figuring out the Dark Hour…"

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Mitsuru said sadly. "I'm also sorry for not sharing this with you sooner, Minato. I knew the origins of the Dark Hour the whole time and never told you…" She turned away, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Don't be." He said, drawing a confused look. He gave her a sad smile. "It would have been worse than me just leaving, Mitsuru." He sighed heavily. "…Finding out the origins of the Dark Hour was my only reason for living for the previous 10 years. If I had found out before…" He shuddered. "Once I found out the origins of the Dark Hour, I had always planned to go to the Moonlight Bridge… and join my parents."

Her eyes widened in horror. He shrugged. "After that, there wouldn't be any more mysteries in the world I'd care to solve, plus knowing it wouldn't restore my memories would just-"

"You won't do any such thing!" She exclaimed angrily as she suddenly reached over, grabbed him by his shirt and began shaking him. "Do you understand me, Minato Arisato?! I won't let you!"

A bright smile formed on his face. "…I understand." He reached up and took her hands in his. "Don't worry, Mitsuru. I… have something to live for now."

She stared back at him for a moment before sighing in relief. "Good… I'm glad."

"Anyways…" He took a deep breath. "I think I understand why you kept this from us now. I was right too: It isn't _that_ important, all things considered. The Dark Hour is still a threat that needs to be eradicated, no matter who caused it." He shook his head. "Still, it can't be easy, knowing that your family was responsible for something that's killed so many…" He turned to Mitsuru, realization dawning on his face. "But that's why _you're_ doing this, isn't it…? Because _you _feel responsible…?"

She nodded sadly. "I had been training to fight the Dark Hour for most of the 8 years before SEES was formed. It's all I've ever known." Her face hardened with determination. "My family caused this, and I will be the one to make up for our mistakes."

"But it wasn't _your_ fault, Mitsuru," He said, shaking his head vehemently. "It was your grandfather's. You don't need to take on his guilt as your own."

She smiled sadly. "I don't know if I believe that… but it makes me glad to hear that from you."

This was clearly a deeply held belief of hers, one that couldn't be broken from one conversation. Instead of pushing, he simply smiled back, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't be that great of a boyfriend if I held something like this against you, now would I?"

"No, I suppose not…" She said with a quiet laugh. "It would kind of put a damper on things…"

"I know, right?" With that, he sighed. "Well… let's just hope that the team sees this the same way."

She winced. "Right… I have to tell them, too…"

"Hey… you won't be alone when you do," He said, pulling her into a hug. "I'll be there too, and I'll back you up if necessary, I promise. They might not trust your word after this… But they might trust mine." He gave her a half-smirk and shrugged. "After all, I wanted to figure out the Dark Hour the most out of all of them, and if I can forgive you for keeping it a secret…"

After a moment, she nodded and pulled away from the hug, gratitude written on her face. "Thank you for understanding, Minato… Again, I am sorry for-" She shook her head and glared at him. "Actually, I'm not sorry for keeping this from you, considering what might have happened otherwise."

He chuckled. "See, there you go: thinking pragmatically. Keep it up and this'll be over in no time."

She just rolled her eyes before slipping her hand into his. "So, now _that's_ over with, tell me what you have been doing with your copious amounts of free time…"

* * *

July 11th, 2009

* * *

Today was the day the Chairman had said they would have the debriefing on the Shirakawa operation, and Mitsuru had been a nervous wreck all day because of it. In addition to the stress of having to lie convincingly about her and Minato's… incident during the operation to Ikutsuki, she also needed to come clean to the rest of the team about the real reasons they were killing Shadows and exploring Tartarus, per her 'agreement' with Minato: a truth that, once revealed, she feared could potentially destroy SEES as they knew it.

She had been so stressed about it that, instead of going to a 'meeting' with a young business executive that her father had set her up with, she had decided to have an early dinner with Minato. She had needed some kind of comfort before this evening, and he had become her favorite place to turn recently.

She smiled sadly. He had been surprisingly understanding about the revelation of her family's dark past and involvement in the Dark Hour. He hadn't even thought twice about it, simply accepting what she told him and moved on. More than that, he had continually reassured her throughout the day, reaffirming his promise to back her up if necessary.

Somehow, he consistently continued to surprise her with his actions. He was a living contradiction: respectful to others yet irreverent with his friends, confident outwardly yet inwardly vulnerable, friendly in manner yet totally isolated in life… He had been raised by aristocracy, but lived his life in the dirt, sacrificing himself for the sake of others. More than all of that however… He was free. Perhaps that was what drew her to him…

* * *

"…so Junpei turns around after the Shadow dies and says with the most serious look in his eyes, "Is my ass out?" He shook his head. "I swear to you, I don't think I've laughed that hard in my life. Sure, it was juvenile, but god, the look on his face… I thought that Yukari was going to pass out, she was laughing so hard." Instead of getting the chuckle of laughter he had been expecting however, he noticed Mitsuru staring off into space, lost in thought.

He sighed. This had to stop. He reached out suddenly and pulled her aside, looking straight into her eyes. Fear ran rampant in them and he hated it. "Look, if I'm wrong and the others can't see that this is just a drop in the pond compared to what _truly_ matters…" He shook his head. "Then screw it: we don't need them. We'll find a way to fix this, just you and me… Got it?"

After a moment, she nodded hesitantly, obviously not believing him. He sighed. She had really taken this guilt to heart, honestly believing that it was all her fault just by being related to the idiot who had actually caused it. Even a

His jaw tightened in determination. He would convince her that this wasn't her fault, no matter what it took. Plus, he believed in the team. He knew they'd come around. If they hadn't given up on him after all he had done, they certainly wouldn't give up on her so easily.

* * *

Once night had struck, SEES all filed into the 4th floor lounge and sat down around Ikutsuki, ready to debrief. "Well, now, before we begin, I'd like to-"

"Wait, Ikutsuki-san," Mitsuru interrupted. "I have something I need to address." She stood up and glanced at Minato, who nodded encouragingly. She swallowed nervously. "It… has been brought to my attention that some of you have concerns that I have not been completely honest with you." She hung her head. "…These concerns are well founded: I _have_ kept something from you all."

Looking up, she took a moment to gauge their reactions. Surprised, Yukari had glanced at Minato for a moment before turning to face her, giving Mitsuru her complete attention. Fuuka stared up at her curiously, intent on listening carefully. Junpei just looked at her, confused. Akihiko simply closed his eyes resignedly.

She sighed heavily. "As you all know, Shadows are beings with mysterious, strange powers. Some research has even indicated that they can harness the power of time and space. 20 years ago, one man became obsessed with harnessing the Shadows' power for himself... That man was my grandfather, Kouetsu Kirijo."

A collective gasp went up from the 3 junior members. She nodded. "14 years ago, he and a set of Kirijo Group researchers set up a lab at the complex that would later become Gekkoukan Academy with the express intent of capturing, studying, and replicating the abilities of the Shadows."

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, 4 years later, on the eve of the experiment's conclusion, the containment for the Shadows failed unexpectedly and the lab exploded, killing almost everyone inside." At this, Yukari flinched. "The experiment however, had an unexpected and unwelcome success. It changed the laws of reality, warping time and space."

"The Dark Hour… and Tartarus…" Yukari shook her head. "…Your grandfather _created_ them."

"Unintentionally, yes," She admitted. "In addition to this however, the Shadows that had been collected in the lab by the Kirijo Group escaped, forming into several large clusters, and then disappeared until a few months ago. These are the Full Moon Shadows that we have been facing. The Kirijo Group is responsible for everything." She lowered her eyes as she finished. "I apologize for hiding the truth from you all." She bowed her head and awaited their judgement. It was quiet for a while.

"You know," Yukari said resignedly, "I figured that it was going to be something like this." Mitsuru's head shot up in surprise. Yukari just shrugged. "I mean, it makes sense. Why would the Kirijo Group even know about the Dark Hour unless they were somehow responsible?" She looked back up at Mitsuru, a confused look on her face. "What I don't get is… Why hide all this from us?"

She closed her eyes. "I guess that…I feel guilty. It is my family's mess after all…"

"And that's what I don't get! You were what, _three_ when the experiment started…?" She shook her head, snorting in exasperation. "_You_ weren't involved, Mitsuru-senpai, and I can see that. To be honest, it was the fact that you didn't seem to want to trust us with the truth that was bugging me the most." She looked at Minato. "You were right; this information doesn't really change anything."

"Of course not," Akihiko said with a nod. "The fact of the matter is that we are the only ones who can stop the Dark Hour and the Shadows. It doesn't matter who _caused_ it, we're the only ones who can _finish_ it."

That drew a series of nods from everyone. Yukari shrugged. "Besides, now that I know that I'm not fighting something that is _completely_ unknown, I can rest a little easier at night."

She felt humbled by Yukari's words. Minato said that she had been vehement in her desire to know the truth, even wanting to risk their team dynamic to get answers. Now that she had gotten them… "Takeba, I-"

Yukari shook her head, cutting her off. "I think I stand for all of us when I say that this doesn't really change anything. After all, you didn't hide this for a bad or horrible reason, just a personal one… And I can get behind that. We all have things in our past we don't particularly like, after all." The others nodded in agreement with Yukari.

She smiled, proud to have their trust. "Thank you… all of you. I am sorry that I concealed the truth from you, but I was afraid that-"

"-that we would blame you?" Yukari gave a snort of laughter. "Come on, Senpai, give us a little credit. We're risking our lives, yes, but for a good reason: to stop anyone else from being hurt, ever again. Your family messed up, but that doesn't mean you're personally responsible for them."

Stunned by her words yet again, Mitsuru instinctively glanced at Minato. He had a huge grin on his face and his eyes seemed to be saying, 'See? Was that worth getting worked up about?' The cold grip of fear loosening around her heart, she turned back to the others and bowed. "…I'm sorry for not trusting you all sooner."

Junpei just shook his head. "C'mon, Senpai… quit apologizing. We forgave you already. No need to keep feeling bad."

Mitsuru smiled as she sat down, her heart lightening for the first time in days. "Alright... Thank you all, again."

At the resolution of the situation, Ikutsuki smiled broadly around the room at all of them. "I am very proud of all of you. I actually have good news for you all, concerning this subject as well." He leaned forward, an intense look on his face. "The Full Moon Shadows: what if I told you that _they_ were the cause of everything?"

Akihiko shot up out of his seat, eyes wide. "Then, if we destroy them all…?!"

"…The Dark Hour and Tartarus will disappear," Ikutsuki confirmed. "Nothing will be left holding it to our reality and both the Dark Hour and Tartarus will vanish."

"Well, 6 down, 6 to go, right?" Minato smirked. "…No problem."

"We're already half way done…" Mitsuru said disbelievingly. "I can't believe it..."

Akihiko grinned. "I can't wait."

"That makes two of us, Akihiko." Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "Now, with all that out of the way, on to the debriefing; So, Mitsuru… can you explain why there was a gap in the events you described in your report?"

Swallowing nervously, Mitsuru launched into her prepared explanation. "W-well, you see…"

* * *

After the intensely awkward debriefing had finally finished, Minato had immediately gone down to his room to do another thing he wasn't sure he was ready for. Putting off calling his cousin any further was just asking for trouble, but Currently, he was staring down at the cell phone in his hand as if it were a snake getting ready to bite him.

His cousin was an extremely calm and collected person, but she also had a vindictive streak a mile wide if you pissed her off. She was insanely creative and could ferret out even the strangest weaknesses from the most tight-lipped person, purely through observation. He often compared her to Sherlock Holmes with how scarily good she was at information gathering, and she took the comparison as a compliment… most of the time.

He sighed and steeled himself. He loved her, no matter what she ended up doing to him as punishment. Better that then telling her the exact details of why he'd forgotten to call. After all, he had made the conscious choice not to involve her in the Dark Hour all those years ago, and he would take the consequences of that choice any day over the alternative. He flipped the phone open, tabbed through the directory until he found her number, and hit 'SEND'.

The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"_So… it took you this long to remember to call, cousin?"_

He winced. She only called him 'cousin' if he was in real hot water. "Hi there, Naoto-chan… How are you?"

He heard a sniff of amusement from the other end. _"I am well. How are you doing back in Iwatodai? Do you miss home yet?"_

"Actually, I'm quite liking it here."

"_Oh? Do tell."_

"I've made a few friends with my classmates, joined the Fencing Club… and Student Council." He smiled. "For the first time, I feel like a regular student."

_"__You joined Student Council?" _She asked disbelievingly._ "What could have possibly happened that forced you to do that?"_

He paused awkwardly. He really didn't want to tell her about Mitsuru over the phone… or at all really. Knowing Naoto, she'd be liable to "…How's Gramps doing?" He asked, deflecting the question.

She sighed and made a non-committal noise. _"He's ok… Hard at work on your secret project, in addition to his cases..." _She paused._ "You know, I _could_ help you two with it if you wanted…"_

He sighed exasperatedly. "Naoto, we've talked about this…"

When his grandfather had begun researching the Dark Hour for him, Naoto had caught on quickly. She had brought it up to Minato, and he had calmly explained that although she _could_ help, it was something dangerous that he didn't want her involved in. 'If any blowback happens', he said, 'it'll be on me, and me alone'.

She had accepted his point grudgingly, but didn't speak to him for the next 3 days. Luckily for him, she had respected his wishes and not dug deeper, even though she was well equipped to find out the truth if she _truly_ wanted.

_"…I know." _She sighed back after a moment._ "It's just…I worry about you, Minato. You haven't been the same since that case 2 years ago."_

He winced. Unfortunately, Naoto had been on the receiving end of his selfish rage once, having dug into Haruya's case behind his back in an effort to find out what was wrong with him. He had regretted the incident ever since. "I know, and I'm sorry for that." He smiled. "You know, I've been feeling a lot better recently. Being here has helped astronomically."

_"Really?"_ She asked disbelievingly.

He chuckled. "Yeah, really… Hey, you're off for the summer right?"

"_Barring a sudden case that Grandfather needs my assistance with, yes." _

He smiled. "In that case, why don't you come up here for a while for the week of the 19th? You can see my improvement for yourself. I can show you around my hometown, and you can meet some of the people I dorm with."

"…_The week of the 19th?" _She sighed regretfully. _"I wish I could. Grandfather has unfortunately made plans for the two of us already. We need to head to an associate's house to resolve some 'business', he says."_

"Right, cause Gramps just _needs_ you to come with." He sighed in disappointment. "…Well, tell him I said 'Hi'… and to return my calls, you know, _once_."

She chuckled. _"I believe that is the Pot calling the Kettle black, don't you?"_

He sighed. "…Yes, I'm sorry I didn't call you for 3 months. I've been overloaded with classwork and other stuff, and I just forgot, that's all. It won't happen again, Naoto, I promise."

She laughed, the sound sending a chill up his spine. _"I'm going to make sure of that, don't you worry. Talk to you later, Minato."_

He returned the goodbye and hung up before slamming his head on his desk.

"I'm _so_ dead."

* * *

July 13th, 2009

* * *

Junpei groaned in agony as his worst enemy defeated him for the tenth time that day.

That enemy's name...was Math.

He suddenly slammed his head on the table causing Yukari and Fuuka to jump and the seniors to look over in concern. "I hate this!" He groaned, his voice muffled by the desk. "Studying sucks so much! It feels like the words are just floating through my eyes and out my ears."

"Some of us just aren't cut out for studying, it seems," Minato said, smirking as he closed his book.

Yukari laughed. "Well, just Junpei."

Junpei's head shot up, a lock of amused annoyance in his eyes. "Hey, I am a fighter, not a scholar. Give me a good fight any day over this studying crap."

"Hey!" Akihiko said indignantly. "I'm a fighter too, and I have no problems studying."

Junpei reddened. "Yeah…Well…But…"

Minato shook his head. "It's alright Junpei. I can take some time to help out if you want. But first, let's all take a break. We've been studying for the past couple of hours and it's almost dinner time."

"Yeah!" Junpei said excitedly, slamming his textbook closed. "Thanks, Boss! So, Fuuka-chan…" He turned to her. "What are you planning on doing for summer break?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Heading home, I guess."

Junpei frowned. Fuuka had told him a little about her home troubles and he sympathized. He had tried to get closer to his dad a few times, like Minato suggested, but it was even harder than he had thought it would be…

He shook his head, forcing his thoughts back to the conversation. "Ah, that sucks. Unfortunately, I don't think I have much of a better plan." He sighed heavily. "Man, I wish we could all go to the beach though. Cool blue water, nice hot sun, girls in bikinis'…"

He trailed off wistfully as Yukari shook her head. "Men…"

"You know, I could go for that too... the beach, not the girls in bikinis," Minato said with a smirk. "I haven't been to the beach in about… I don't know, 6 years? It was a work trip to Okinawa for my grandfather, but it was beautiful." He sighed. "Plus, I think we could all use a vacation. We've been working pretty hard recently..."

"Man, just talking about it has me excited!" Junpei said with a grin on his face. "I really wish we could go somewhere like that!"

"Well, it's not Okinawa, but how about Yakushima?"

The group jumped as Ikutsuki's voice rang out behind them. Mitsuru stood up to face him, alarmed. "I-Ikutsuki-san, I-I didn't realize that you were here…"

He smiled. "You all were studying so diligently, I decided to wait until you took a break to interrupt. I was in the area, you see, and I wanted to tell you my schedule for next week." He looked straight at Mitsuru. "Your father will be vacationing at the family resort on Yakushima the week after finals. Since you all have that week off as well… Why don't you and the rest go and pay him a visit?"

"What?" Mitsuru's eyes widened. "I don't know… I-I wouldn't want to ruin his vacation plans…"

"Nonsense," Ikutsuki said with a chuckle. "Your father would be ecstatic that his daughter came so far to spend her vacation with him, I'm sure of it. Besides, as Minato-kun said, the rest of you have been working extremely hard." He smiled brightly. "I think you all deserve a break, don't you?"

Mitsuru looked over the group for a moment before smiling and shaking her head. "…Alright."

"Alright!" Junpei whooped in excitement. He shot out of his seat and pointed at his textbook. "Studying, I'm gonna kick your ass so I can enjoy my vacation! Get ready!"

Minato shook his head. "If you can keep that enthusiasm and put it into your studying, Junpei… You might be surprised how well you do."

"Really?" His grin widened. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Well, looks like I need to find my swimsuit…" Yukari said with a stretch. "What about you, Fuuka?" Fuuka glanced down at the ground, and Yukari gasped. "You don't have a swimsuit?!" Fuuka shook her head shyly. Yukari quickly got up and started dragging Fuuka upstairs. "C'mon, I have a couple you can pick from. Let's go!"

"Hey Minato, you think we can come up with a special training regimen for the beach?" Akihiko asked excitedly.

Minato tilted his head in thought. "I dunno, I suppose swimming might be good for endurance training…"

Mitsuru closed her book with a smirk. It seemed that studying had taken a back seat to travel preparation for now. Surprisingly, the thought didn't disturb her as much as she thought it would. Perhaps it was leftover guilt that guided her actions, but seeing how excited all of them had been for this trip had been the reason she'd agreed to it.

Still, something about this bothered her. Her father hadn't taken a vacation in several years. Why had he decided now would be a good time for one?

* * *

July 19th, 2009

* * *

The ferry's horn blew loudly as they neared the port of Yakushima. "Oh man, there it is!" Junpei yelled, leaning over the railing excitedly as he stared at their destination. "It's freaking beautiful there!"

Minato grabbed the back of Junpei's shirt as he started to tip over the railing. "Relax, Junpei. I doubt you want to swim the rest of the way."

Junpei smiled back at him. "I dunno, that seems like it wouldn't be that bad if I'm honest!"

He shook his head in amusement. Junpei had been practically bouncing off the walls since they'd left that morning, barely being able to sit still during the 3 hour ferry ride. Still, Minato couldn't blame him; he had been just as excited as Junpei for this trip after all. "Well, that doesn't mean you should try," He replied with a sigh. "Just… keep it contained till we're done docking, ok? We came here to relax and I can't really do that if I'm constantly making sure you don't go overboard."

"I know Boss, but… Look!" He said, gesturing grandly at the island paradise they would be staying at. "It's so damn pretty!"

Minato chuckled. "I can see that… Look, why don't you go get your stuff out of your locker with the others? We'll be docking soon, after all."

"Right!" Junpei said excitedly. "You want me to grab your stuff too?"

"Sure, thanks," Minato said with a nod.

"No problem, Bosserino!"

Shaking his head as Junpei practically ran down the side deck to catch up with the others, he turned around and sat back down in the shade next to Mitsuru, sighing happily as he looked out over the sea. After a quiet moment, he glanced at Mitsuru on a whim. She was giving him an odd look.

"What?" He asked as he turned to her. "Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, uh…no," She said with a blush. "You're fine."

She was acting strangely. "What's wrong, Mitsuru?" He asked concernedly.

She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "It's nothing important. It's just…" Her blush deepened as she shyly looked away from him. "...This is the first time that I've brought a boy to meet my father."

"…Well, I can't say that I was exactly looking forward to it," He said with a chuckle, "But this _is_ the first time that I could potentially _enjoy_ the experience."

She winced, recognizing what he meant. "I'm sorry. I wasn't-"

He shook his head. "Relax. That wasn't what I meant at all." He shrugged. "Besides, judging by how you speak of him, your father is a good man."

"He can be a little…gruff at first," She said with a nod, "but he truly is a caring man. I'm sure he'll like you…"

"Just don't mention my grandfather and I think we'll be ok," Minato said with a nod. After a moment, he paled as another thought came to him. "Wait, have you told him we're…you know…?"

She blushed and shook her head. "It…never came up."

He sighed. This was going to be interesting. "Well, let's just hope that it doesn't come up unexpectedly."

She nodded. "You and me both…"

* * *

The SEES members all made noises of amazement as they walked into the main hall of the Kirijo family resort. It was elegantly styled, almost like a palace or a museum. Two maids walked forward as Mitsuru lead the group into the foyer.

"This place is amazing!" Junpei said as he glanced around in awe. "I mean, I knew that Mitsuru-senpai was rich, but…damn!"

The maids bowed to Mitsuru, and spoke simultaneously. "Good day, Mistress."

"Hello, how are you both?" She greeted back, smiling familiarly at them. "Is my father here?"

Giving a bow of acknowledgement, the maid on the right turned and went into the door behind her. The left most one nodded in response to Mitsuru's question. "Yes. He is awaiting a special guest and his companion. They have business to conduct with Master Takeharu."

Mitsuru frowned. "Business? But I thought he was on vacation."

The maid smiled knowingly. "He is. This business is of a… personal matter to him."

Personal matters? Mitsuru's frown deepened. She had not heard anything of the sort when she'd been making the arrangements. What kind of personal matter could be so important he had to invite someone out for a vacation? Before she could ruminate any further however, the door in front of her opened and her father walked into the hall.

Takeharu Kirijo was a tall man with dark hair and a strong body, his face marred only by the presence of an eyepatch over his left eye. He walked forward into the hall, a stern look on his face as he surveyed the group of teens in front of him. He looked at Mitsuru first, and she saw a momentary softening of his expression as he regarded her before it hardened again. He stared at all of the SEES members, his gaze lingering on Yukari for a moment longer than the others before coming to rest on Minato. Surprisingly, his face softened again before he spoke.

"You are Arisato, correct? Minato Arisato?"

Mitsuru's eyes widened. Her father was calling her boyfriend out by name seconds after he had walked into her home. She swallowed, not liking where this was going at all.

"Y-yes, Sir," He replied before glancing at her nervously.

"I thought so," Takeharu said with a nod before gesturing to him. "Follow me, please."

Her heart began to race. There was no way that her father should have known about Minato, not this quickly. She reached out to stop him. "Father, what are you_…?_"

"Don't worry, Mitsuru." Takaharu's expression softened as he looked over at her. "We are just going to speak on matters that concern both of us."

What was that supposed to mean? Did that mean that he knew about the two of them after all? She caught her boyfriend's worried glance as he walked past, returning it with her own. Her heart rate skyrocketed as two of the men she cared about most in her life disappeared behind the door together.

* * *

Minato Arisato was normally a very calm person. True, he had his moments of outrage and anger, but mostly, he was levelheaded and calm. Right now though? He was a mess of nerves and fear. Takeharu had brought him into his office and gestured for Minato to sit down opposite him before proceeding to stare at Minato for the next several minutes, his expression unchanging. Minato sighed as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

_He obviously knows by now. Why else would he drag you here and not speak to you?_

As if reading his mind, Takeharu spoke for the first time. "How are your classes going? I hear that Ikutsuki was impressed with the diligence you showed with your studies."

Minato raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was this? It wasn't any kind of interrogation technique he'd seen before. "Um, they're going well, sir," He replied politely. "Your daughter is a good influence. She has been… encouraging me to increase the amount of time I spend on my studies."

The patriarch of the Kirijo Family smiled knowingly, and shook his head. "Of course she is… Even so, everyone needs to know when to take a break, now and again, correct?"

Minato nodded timidly. "Yes, that's why we're here, sir."

"…No, it isn't."

Minato frowned in confusion. "…Sir?"

Takeharu smiled a sad smile at him. "You are here because I _wanted_ you here."

Minato swallowed.

_Oh great. He's gonna kill me, and no one is gonna find the body. You should've known this would happen. Oh, well, you'll just have to fight for her. Let him know what she means to you._

Minato was just about to start pleading his case when the phone on the desk rang, Takeharu picking it up immediately. "Yes?" A few seconds later, he nodded. "Very well. Show his guest where she'll be staying, and bring him to my office. Then we can begin."

He blinked in confusion. He wasn't here for 'the talk' after all? "Sir, I'm sorry if this sounds impertinent," Minato said as Takeharu hung up the phone, "But…Why am I here?"

Takeharu's eye softened. "You know," He said wistfully, "You look a lot like him."

"…Look like _who_?" He asked in confusion.

"He's talking about your _father, _boy."

Minato froze at the sound of a voice he hadn't heard in 3 months. The last time he had, it had told him to go to Iwatodai.

After a few stunned moments, he stood up and looked at the man who had been both his friend and his enemy for the past 10 years.

"Hello, Grandfather."

.

.

.

**_Edit AN: Well, this one I'm not really happy with, but I can't really put my finger on why. Perhaps it's because it didn't have parts in it that I wanted to change so much as just removing them completely. After that, it was purely a structural change to the sentences to make them flow better. Either way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as it is now. Feel free to leave me a review or send me a PM if you like, dislike, or are concerned with this chapter. See you next time! – Dr Ninja_**


	10. July 19th cont

Mitsuru was normally a calm person. Sure, she had her moments of icy rage, but in general, she was very poised and collected. Right now, though? She was panicking and fearful. Her boyfriend of less than a month had been spirited away by her formerly Yakuza-associated father, and she had no idea what it was Takeharu wanted with Minato.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around. It was Akihiko. He had a concerned look in his eyes. "What was that about?"

Mitsuru shook her head. She could imagine what _might_ be the reason, but…_No, there is no possible way that he could know. We haven't been seen in a place together, doing anything that friends wouldn't do…Wait, the banker! _

She suddenly remembered the young banker that she had stood up on the day when she had told SEES about the incident. He had probably complained to her father when she hadn't shown up to their established 'meeting'. That might have given him a clue, but how did he know it was Minato?

Akihiko waved his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. His concerned look increased in intensity. "Mitsuru, what is going on?"

She shook her head again. Her voice was tinny, and weak. "I…don't know why..."

Akihiko pulled back in alarm. The last time he had seen her like this, Jubei had just had his meltdown... Realization dawned on his face. He leaned back in and whispered, "Hey, have you two been…?"

Mitsuru held her breath. She had to tell him no. She needed to deny it. _But why? _

That small question stopped her thoughts. Why did she need to deny it? Akihiko was her friend, and always had been. He was trustworthy. She nodded slightly, and said in a low whisper, "We've been…going out since the Shirakawa operation."

Akihiko smiled a small amount, then concern slipped back into his features. "Did you tell him?"

She shook her head. "No, but there is no way he could've…"

Akihiko looked at her in alarm. "Come on, Mitsuru, you know your dad better than anyone. If anyone could find out, it would be him!" She felt a large lump of fear settle into the pit of her stomach.

At that moment, the sound of the main door opening caused the SEES members to turn. An older gentleman in a dark blue plaid suit with blue streaked silver hair, was standing there. He had a cane in his hand, and next to him, was a blue haired boy who looked as if in his early teens. The boy was wearing a blue plaid hat, and was wearing a light blue work shirt with the sleeves rolled up and blue dress pants. The maids came up to them and bowed.

The maid on the right said something to the gentleman, and he nodded in response. He walked past the group without a word and went through the door Mitsuru's father and Minato had gone through only a few minutes earlier. Mitsuru stared towards where he had gone. Was that the person her father had business with? If so, why take Minato? What connection would he have to him?

The maid on the left spoke with the boy for a few minutes and apparently offered to show him the way to his room. He shook his head politely and came up to the group of SEES members. The boy nodded politely to all of them and said, "I wasn't aware that Kirijo-san would have so many guests. Friends of the family?"

Mitsuru turned to the boy. He had a pretty face and eyes that dripped intelligence. Akihiko nodded to the newcomer. "Uh, yeah. Are you?"

He shook his head. "No. I am merely accompanying my grandfather. He has business with Kirijo-san, and Kirijo-san was kind enough to invite us to stay for a few days. It seems we will be rooming together for the duration." The boy stuck out his hand. "I'm Naoto Shirogane. Pleased to meet you."

The pieces came together in Mitsuru's head. The others reacted the same way, all looking at her in confusion and surprise. She turned and burst through the doors, heading for her father's office. She needed answers and she knew who could give them.

* * *

Minato stared at the man he both loved and hated equally. He wanted to scream, to rage, and to throw things. This man had been keeping secrets from him the whole time, and now he just shows up? He would be justified for reacting that way, he felt. Instead, as a good guest, he turned to Takeharu and said, "What the hell is this?"

Ok, maybe he needed some work on the good guest part.

Takeharu's face split into a grin and he barked out a laugh. "Well, I guess I deserved that." He turned to Kyohei Shirogane. "How was your trip, Shirogane-san?"

Kyohei snorted. "Skip the pleasantries, Kirijo. We are here to discuss the past, not the present."

Minato shook his head. He ran through the facts in his head. His grandfather knew Mitsuru's father, and they had obviously met before. Mitsuru's father apparently also knew Minato's father, enough to recognize familial traits in his looks. His grandfather did not like Mitsuru's father that much, judging by his tone and demeanor. One question remained: He still didn't know why they were here.

Kyohei sat in the seat next to Minato, and put his cane on the side of his chair. Takeharu held up a decanter of alcohol in an offering, and his grandfather shook his head. Takeharu then poured himself one, and sat back down, looking at the two men before him.

Minato's patience was running thin. He didn't like not knowing what he was walking into, and he had been a bundle of nerves and fear from the moment he stepped into the office. He wanted answers right now. In a low voice, he repeated his earlier question. "What the _hell_ is this?"

Kyohei smacked his arm, reproach in his tone. "Language, young man. We are guests."

Minato exploded. "I'm sorry, but being a guest implies a certain measure of civility towards the host, something you haven't given yet! So if you aren't a guest, then why the hell are you here!? I've been trying to call you for 3 goddamn _months_, and then you just _show up_ during my well-earned vacation?! _What the hell is this, or do I need to repeat myself again?!"_

Kyohei got up to yell, but Takeharu held his hand up. "He has a point, Shirogane-san. Perhaps I should be the one to open this conversation."

Kyohei scoffed, then sat down. Minato stared in shock. _No one_ told Kyohei Shirogane to stop. He was so shocked, his own anger was forgotten. Minato slumped back into his chair as Takeharu began.

"22 years ago. I was just a teenager, not much younger than yourself. My father had just split our family from our Yakuza family in an attempt to make our own empire."

Takeharu shook his head. "It was foolish to think that there would not be bloodshed. One day, after school, I was walking home, when I saw two men following me. I knew what this meant, so I attempted to make an escape into a nearby alleyway. It was a trap. Two more men appeared at the other end. One of them pulled a knife and said, "The Nanjo group sends their regards."

Takeharu smiled suddenly. "All of a sudden, out of one of the backdoors of a butcher shop, a teen slightly older than me comes out with a cleaver in his hands, and stands between me and the two in front. He told me to go inside, that he would handle them."

He shook his head in remembrance. "I was young and foolish. I thought, 'I can't let this commoner show me up! I'd never live it down!' We waded into battle together, and that's how this…" He referred to his eyepatch. "…happened. We took them all down, but not before the last one got me. The teen rushed inside to get a cold towel for my wound, and then walked me to the hospital. Afterwards, I attempted to pay him for his trouble, and the help he had given me, and he refused. He turned to leave, and on a whim, I asked his name. He turned to me and smiled. 'My name is Saburo Arisato. It was nice to meet you.'"

Minato felt his stomach drop. He swallowed. "My father?"

Takeharu nodded. "Your father saved my life, and it was a debt that I never repaid. I tried my hardest though. I told my father about the incident, and the one who had saved me. He looked into getting your father a job, working with the newly formed Kirijo Group, and eventually _declined_ him. You see, my father was very old fashioned. He looked through Saburo's family history and found something unsavory in his past."

Minato was enthralled. He had no memory of his father, and to be talking to someone who knew him! He couldn't tear himself away. "What was it?"

Takeharu frowned in disgust at the memory. "He found out that your father was descended from a _burakumin _family. He couldn't take that, even though Saburo had shown more loyalty in 5 minutes than most of the other scum we had working for us at the time. I pleaded with my father to let me help him, in some way. He relented and allowed Saburo to join as a 'little brother' in one of our lower tier gangs."

Takeharu smiled again as he shook his head in hindsight. "Your father's talents were wasted there."

Kyohei scoffed, the first noise he had made since the start of the conversation. "Talents? Hah, if you can call beating up innocent businessmen talent."

Takeharu glared at Kyohei. "As I said, his talents were _wasted_ there. Luckily, he proved himself to be a fantastic moneymaker, making an increased profit for most of the activities that that gang provided with very little bloodshed. Saburo could talk his way around any one. He moved quickly up the ranks, eventually ending up running his own mid-tier gang. That was when things got strange."

Kyohei snorted in amusement. "Strange, he calls it. One day 18 years ago, I get a call into my office. There had been a murder in Iwatodai. The killer had been identified as one Saburo Arisato."

* * *

At that point, a knock sounded on the office door. Takeharu frowned. "Who is it? I asked not to be disturbed."

Mitsuru's voice came through the door. "Pardon me, father, but I was just concerned…"

Takeharu shook his head. This was the second time she had done something strange today. "What is going on with that girl…?"

He got up to answer the door. Mitsuru had a worried expression on her face. "Father…"

Takeharu had a stern expression on his face. "Mitsuru, this is a private conversation. I appreciate your concern for your teammate, but…"

"She can come in. I don't mind if she hears this."

Takeharu's eyes widened in surprise. He turned to look back at the blue haired teen. He had an almost unnoticeable smile on his face, and seemed to be staring past him at his daughter. He turned back to see her with an equally small smile. He felt a small grin tug onto his face before schooling it back into a neutral expression. "Very well, if Minato-kun has no objections…"

Kyohei watched as Mitsuru entered the room. He glanced in interest at the beautiful daughter of his host as she walked past him to sit on the side of the table behind him. She had earned his grandson's trust obviously, and he trusted her enough to hear his family's past.

He shook his head. He would think on this later. "Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, the murderer was reported to be one Saburo Arisato." He heard a small gasp from the girl behind him. He ignored it and continued. "I was busy with a dozen different cases at the time, so I sent my protégé to deal with this open and shut case."

Minato closed his eyes as he put together the pieces. His voice came out pained. "Mom…"

Kyohei nodded. "My own daughter. She was determined to be the first woman independent detective our family had seen. She was incredibly smart, and determined. I knew that she would be able to solve the case with no problems."

Minato smirked, with no humor evident in his eyes. "Well, when you're wrong, you're wrong…"

Kyohei scowled. "I didn't think that she would fall in love with the man she was sent there to catch!"

Minato smiled condescendingly. "I know, right? Cause people can't fall in love according to you."

Takeharu smiled at the boy's sarcasm as Kyohei ground his teeth. "Well, the truth is a tad more complicated than that. You see, a rival boss from one of the other gangs in the organization tried to frame your father, for revenge. It almost worked. They lured him to the scene of the crime, and knocked him out, planting the murder weapon on him, and smearing the blood from the dead man on his clothes. When he woke up, he barely managed to escape the police. Luckily, your father was a man with a silver tongue. He had plenty of friends throughout the city, since he protected certain businesses from the more vicious gangs that still roamed the streets. In return, they gave him asylum with no thought to themselves. "

Takeharu smiled brightly, looking at Minato with admiration in his eye. "Saburo was _the_ best man that I ever knew. He embodied what made the Kirijo Group strong. 'Two in harmony surpass one in perfection.' He would protect others with no thought to his own safety, and refuse payment from those he had saved. He merely asked that they spread his reputation, and in turn, others went to _us_ for protection. He helped lay the groundwork for what I do with the Kirijo group now."

Kyohei coughed, a pointed look in his eyes. Takeharu chuckled, then nodded. "Of course, Shirogane-san. I was going off track. I apologize. Anyway, he successfully hid out, then started searching for the ones who had framed him. Little did he know, he had a shadow."

He shook his head in amusement. "Your mother, Akane, was determined to catch him. She nearly caught him several times. As Saburo investigated, Akane also did so. She quickly came to the conclusion that he had not, in fact, committed the murder…"

Kyohei interrupted. "Based on hearsay and rumor, not actual fact and evidence!"

Takeharu glared at him. "I am not getting into this argument with you again, Kyohei. All rumor has a shred of truth in it, and you know that."

Kyohei simply crossed his arms and fell silent. Takeharu continued. "Saburo eventually found the gang that had set him up. He went to their headquarters and tried to find evidence he could use to clear his name, but was caught and captured. Akane had been on his trail, and called in backup. The police came in, arrested the culprits, and cleared your father of all charges."

Minato shook his head, a small grin on his face. "How the hell did my mom go from chasing a potential killer around, to marrying him and having his children?"

Kyohei smirked humorlessly. "Good question."

Takeharu shook his head. "The two of them played a type of cat and mouse game for several months afterwards, until Saburo got the guts to confess he had fallen for her. The two of them started dating, and then, shortly after, were married. A couple of months later, they found out that Akane was pregnant. With you, and your sister."

At the mention of Makoto, Minato smiled briefly, then frowned again as another question came to mind. "Well, that's interesting and all, but what does it have to do with you, sir? What is your stake in all of this?"

Takeharu laughed. "Who do you think was present at the time of you and your sister's birth, making sure your father didn't go crazy with worry?"

Minato and Mitsuru stared at him. Takeharu smiled at Minato. "I was _very_ surprised when he asked me to be your godfather. He wasn't Christian, but he must have thought it was ironic. He always did have a good sense of humor."

Minato gave a bark of laughter as he stared at his godfather. "I…don't know what to say…"

A sudden surge of anger rocked through Minato. He was soon up on his feet, grasping his grandfather's chair and staring him in the eyes, shouting into his face. "How come I find out now?! I could have known that I had others that cared about me, that knew my family, and you never said a word!"

Minato heaved as tears began to spill from his eyes. "All that time…and you hid it from me…"

Takeharu shook his head sadly. "We're done for today, Minato-kun. You can go. We can discuss the rest of what we need to tell you later."

Minato nodded and walked out of the room. Kyohei got up to follow him. Mitsuru attempted to follow as well. "Wait, Mitsuru." She looked at her father. An unknown look was in his eyes. "Stay. I need to speak with you."

* * *

Minato walked towards the main entrance hall. He felt drained. His grandfather had kept even more from him than he'd realized. The sound of footsteps behind him reignited his anger. He wheeled around and in a low, angry voice, he said, "I don't want to see hide nor hair of you for the rest of this trip."

His grandfather opened his mouth to retort, but Minato cut him off. "You lied to me, for 10 years! You said that no one knew who they were, and you were lying straight to my face!" Minato watched as his grandfather attempted to find the words, but failed.

Minato turned and left him there, and headed for the guest wing. The weight of his Grandfather's lies had been lifted, but it left a stinging pain in its wake. He wiped his eyes to prevent the angry tears from falling.

* * *

Takeharu's eye bored into Mitsuru's. He smiled at her, but she couldn't help but feel he was displeased. She _had_ barged into a meeting that had been private, she admitted to herself. She swallowed and attempted to apologize. "Father, I'm sorry for intruding on the meeting you had with Minato and Shirogane-san."

Her father's eye twitched at the mention of Minato's name. "So, how well do the two of you know each other? He mentioned you."

She felt her heart rate increase at that. "Well enough. He leads the team during battle, and I deal with management and other things of that sort."

Her father shook his head, smile intact. "No, how well do you _know_ each other?"

She swallowed involuntarily. "Oh. We…sit next to each other in class. He's smart, and studious. He has told me some of his past, such as his relations with his grandfather, which is why I came here."

He shook his head. "Why, because you recognized a name? Please, Mitsuru, I know you better than that. That wasn't normal for you. You acted strangely in the hall too, when I called on him to follow me. Why was that?"

She lowered her eyes. "I…didn't know what to expect. I thought that he might have done something to displease you in one of my reports, or something."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that worried you?"

She nodded once. "He has done a fantastic job leading the team. Any blame for any failures should be put on me."

He nodded, accepting her point, then continued. "And as for him? Why would he allow you to listen to his past, see his pain, if you only know each other that well? As colleagues, and nothing more? I know something of the boy, and I know that he doesn't trust easily."

She shrugged. "We have been in battle together. We trust each other."

He smirked. "With your lives, not with your hearts."

At that she looked up into her father's eye. He had a knowing look. "I hoped that he would find a new purpose in life, when his grandfather and I sent him to Iwatodai. Maybe fighting the Shadows would let him find a new goal, a reason to keep living."

She stared into his face, disbelief etched into her features. His features relaxed, tension flowing out. "He had a similar experience to one in your past, you know. An event that made him wary of trusting others. He too had his heart broken once before, by someone he cared about, very deeply. You see, a girl named Haruya…"

She stood up suddenly, anger blazing in her eyes. "This is not something we should be talking about."

Her father smirked as the trap closed. "Why? Because it's his story to tell? Or because…you already know it?"

She gaped. _How did he…? _Her father smiled brightly. "Mitsuru, I have seen you these past few years. You changed, after Jubei rejected and humiliated you. You became obsessed with your duty, and threw yourself into your obligations. You stopped living, using excuses and tradition to hide your pain. I saw what that pain, that loneliness, looked like."

He shook his head. "I do not see that pain in you now."

She sat down, her head in her hands. She had been played. He laughed. "Don't look so distraught, Mitsuru. I am happy for you, truly."

She shook her head, groaning. "And we were hoping you wouldn't find out…"

He laughed again. "Anyone who is around you two for a few seconds could figure it out, love. So, how long has this been going on?"

She looked up at him, a slight smile on her face. "…A few weeks."

His laugh, a great belly laugh, encompassed the room. "A bit early to be introducing him to your father, don't you think?"

She stood up, anger and embarrassment on her face. "If you are going to be like this…"

He nodded, smiling brightly. "I've kept you long enough as is. Go on. Enjoy your vacation."

As she opened the door, Mitsuru heard him call out to her. She leaned back in, and saw a small look of pride on Takeharu's face. "I am so glad to see you happy again."

Mitsuru smiled as she walked toward the guest wing. Maybe having her father know wouldn't be too bad after all.

* * *

Minato sat on the edge of the bed, his MP3 player blaring away in his ears. He didn't know what to think anymore. His head was spinning. The arrogance of his grandfather blinded him with rage, and the connection to Takeharu confused him. Why didn't he reach out before now? Why wait until now to reveal this?

He shook his head. He wasn't going to reflect on it right now. The past happened. He couldn't change it, and he would go crazy if he thought about how things might have been different. He still had questions, but the answers had been waiting for a while now. They could wait a little longer.

He got up and looked out the window. The beach looked awfully nice. He smiled. Even if the excuse to come here had been a fabrication, he was still here on vacation. He was here to relax. He took his headphones off, and grabbed his swimsuit. He changed and had been about to leave when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to see Mitsuru. She looked at his undressed state and blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

He laughed. "Well, I guess we're sort of even now, huh? You want to come in?" She smiled and nodded. She stepped past him and sat in one of the chairs at the small coffee table in his room.

He sat down across from her, and she started. "I wanted to apologize. I had no idea my father knew about you. He never mentioned any of it to me. Either way, it was my idea to come here, and…"

He smiled as he got up and kissed her. She felt the words she had prepared on the way here fall away. She melted into the kiss. When he pulled away, he had a smile on his face. "You apologize too much. I don't blame you, or your father. Gramps has been doing this kind of thing to me for years, so I shouldn't be _that_ surprised. And besides, who originally mentioned the idea to come here in the first place?"

She shook her head, and smiled at the efficiency of the game that had been played. "Ikutsuki-san. That makes sense. We really need to talk with him when we get back..." She blushed as she remembered that he was half naked in front of her. "Um, were you heading to the beach?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I figure that I have had enough emotional turmoil for one day, and that I should actually do what I came here to do: Relax."

She smiled at his logic. "Well, I can't deny that the beach does look inviting…"

His face twisted into a devilish smile, and his tone took on a teasing quality. "Well, maybe you should join me. I honestly wouldn't mind some company…"

She smirked as she replied, "Then you won't mind if I invite the others?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. "Eh, I guess. We did bring them along…Why'd we do that again?"

She laughed, then froze as she remembered what had sent her to find him. "Um, Minato?"

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Yeah?"

She gave him a sympathetic look. "Your grandfather…didn't come alone."

Minato looked at her in confusion, then horror as the realization sunk in. "Oh, god. Naoto's here too?"

She nodded, concern in her eyes. He smiled and shrugged. "Eh, she was always going to punish me for forgetting to call her for 3 months. Might as well get it out of the way now."

She tilted her head in curiosity. "What will she do to you?"

He shook his head, a fearful smile on his face. "I have _no_ idea. That's what scares me."

* * *

Junpei was sitting on the bed in his room, worried out of his mind. This day had started awesome, then took a turn for the weird. First, Mitsuru's father had come up to them and asked for Minato by name. Then someone he assumed was Minato's grandfather and cousin showed up. Then, after Naoto had introduced herself, Mitsuru had gotten a fearful expression and run off. The group had answered some awkward questions from Naoto, then retreated to their rooms. He didn't know what the hell was going on, and that worried him.

A knock on his door woke him from his thoughts. He got up to answer and saw that it was Minato. He had a towel on his shoulder and was wearing a swimsuit and sandals.

Minato smiled disarmingly at him. "Hey, I'm heading down to the beach, and was asking everyone else if they wanted to join. You coming?"

Junpei stared at him with a confused expression. Minato waved his hand in front of Junpei's face. "Hello…Earth to Junpei?"

Junpei shook his head as he exclaimed, "Dude, what the hell happened?"

Minato's gaze fell to the ground. "Later. For now, I just want to enjoy my vacation."

Junpei looked at him in concern, then nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Alright. I'll get changed. See you down there, boss."

This process repeated for the rest of the SEES members, with all of them giving him concerned looks before agreeing to come out to the beach. He sighed as he came to the second to last door. He knew who was in here. He just hoped she wouldn't kill him immediately for surprising her like this. He knocked on the door.

Naoto opened the door to find her cousin standing there in a swimsuit and sandals with a sheepish expression on his face. He gave a half-smile. "Hi, Naoto-chan. Do you want to come to the beach with us?"

She just stared in confusion and amazement. He felt his grin grow. He couldn't help himself. "You didn't see this coming? For shame, Naoto."

Her face shuttered as annoyance and anger set into her features. "Did Grandfather set this up?"

He nodded. "I was just as surprised as you were. Mitsuru is one of my dorm mates and, well, here we are…" He rubbed the back of his head as her gaze bored into his own.

She shook her head in confusion. "But why? Why are we here? Is it because of the secret project?"

He tilted his head. "Kinda. I dunno. Turns out Takeharu-san was a friend of my _father's_. Gramps knew, and just got around to telling me."

Naoto looked at him with concern in her eyes. Minato smiled. "Look, Gramps has been hiding things from us since we first met him. I knew that there were things he wasn't telling me."

He sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, do you want to come to the beach with the rest of us? You can meet my dorm mates, officially."

She smiled. "I had wondered why they seemed so odd when I told them who I was. I assume you've told them about me?" He nodded. "Then I would be delighted. I hate to be on the back foot when meeting new people."

Minato groaned. "Naoto, they're high school students, not suspects."

Naoto smiled. "Not if they're with you. I need to know what you have been doing these past 3 months, since apparently you were too busy to call."

Minato groaned. "I came here on vacation, and this is what I get. Embarrassment and grief. Pain in the ass family…"

He walked away muttering to himself as Naoto shut the door to get changed. She smiled. _And I thought this trip would be boring…_

* * *

Junpei looked out over the water. It was clear and blue and beautiful. His face twisted into a smile as he shouted, "Woohoo! It's summer, alright!"

Akihiko smiled at Junpei. "Yeah, I know. Calm down, will you?"

Junpei just smirked. "Man, I can't believe we're here. This place is amazing!"

Akihiko frowned. Minato had looked fine when he had invited Akihiko out, but he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. That, combined with the new information he had acquired from Mitsuru, and he felt more concerned than usual. He just hoped that Minato was alright. They could ill afford him to lose control again.

He shook his head. It wasn't worth worrying about right now. Minato said he would tell them about it later tonight. He quickly scanned around, looking for a landmark to use as a distance marker. Junpei had jumped into the water already, bouncing around in the surf like a kid.

"Jeez, he's already in the water? He could have waited…"

Akihiko turned around to see Yukari walking up behind him. She had a pink bikini and short shorts on, with sunglasses on top of her head. He smiled at her exasperation. "Yeah, but I think he's waited long enough, don't you?"

She sighed as she nodded. "Yeah, I suppose. We did kind of have an interesting morning, huh? I mean, Minato-kun's cousin and grandfather showing up? And then Mitsuru-senpai just running off after hearing Naoto's name? What is up with that?"

Akihiko shook his head. He knew why Mitsuru had run off, but that was her secret to share. "I dunno. No use worrying about it until he decides to tell us."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess…Wow, Fuuka! It looks great on you!"

Akihiko turned to see Fuuka walking towards the pair. She was wearing a light blue bikini top with a matching skirt bottom, and a pair of cute sandals. She blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Yukari-chan. Hello, Akihiko-senpai."

He nodded to her, and continued his search for a marker. His search was interrupted yet again by the gasps of the girls behind him. He turned around to see Mitsuru walking towards them all. She wore a white bikini top and a white cloth tied around her waist, with a set of open, high heeled sandals. Yukari gasped again. "Wow, you're…beautiful, Senpai! Your skin is flawless!"

Mitsuru blushed at the girls' attention. "Uh…thank you, Yukari…"

Akihiko smirked. Minato was going to lose his mind. He quickly attempted to save Mitsuru from the girls' awed stares. "Hey, girls. There's a set of umbrellas over there. Can you go and claim them real quick, so we have someplace to sit?"

The girls tore their gazes away and looked to Akihiko. Yukari shook her head clear, then nodded. "Yeah, sure, senpai. Come on, Fuuka!" The two girls walked away, leaving Akihiko alone with her.

He quickly gave her a mischievous smile. "So, trying to look your best for Minato?"

She blushed and pursed her lips in repressed annoyance. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

He laughed. "Come on, Mitsuru. I'm happy for you, really. I think he's a great guy, and I know he'll treat you well."

She looked at him in amused disbelief. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, because he knows what will happen if he hurts you. He's already met your father, and he knows how _hard_ I can punch."

She smirked, tension bleeding away. "Yes, well, I doubt that will happen. He's not really the type to…play around."

Akihiko blushed at her words. She closed her eyes in exasperation. "Not like that. I mean, cheating. He isn't the type."

Akihiko smiled. "I know. I can already see he's been good for you, and you are clearly good for him. I mean, you hugged him once and he practically changed overnight."

She smiled and was about to retort, when a familiar voice called out. "Hey, everyone!"

Minato had appeared, and Naoto was next to him. She wore a one piece suit with a set of sunglasses and sandals. He waved over Yukari and Fuuka, and yelled, "Hey, Junpei, I got someone for you to meet!"

Junpei quickly ran out of the water and stood next to Mitsuru. Yukari and Fuuka ran over to stand next to Akihiko. When all of them were together, Minato gestured grandly at his cousin. "Everyone, I know you've probably already met, but this is Naoto Shirogane, my cousin. Naoto, these are my dorm mates."

Naoto nodded to them all. "Hello again. I know we met this morning, but we haven't been formally introduced, yet."

Akihiko nodded to her. "I'm Akihiko Sanada. Nice to meet you."

Mitsuru did a small curtsey. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, Miss Shirogane. A pleasure to meet you."

Junpei smiled at her and stuck out his hand to shake. "Junpei Iori! Minato's mentioned you a few times. Good to finally meet ya!"

Fuuka smiled and bowed. "I'm Fuuka Yamagishi. It's nice to meet you."

Yukari smiled brilliantly. "I'm Yukari Takeba. It's nice to finally meet you, Naoto-chan!"

Naoto turned to Minato. "So, Minato, what have you told them about me?"

He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Not much…"

Yukari stepped in. "But it's all been complimentary, trust me. So Naoto, Minato has told us about the 'job' you have. Can you tell us about it?"

Naoto looked at Minato, surprised. They never had described what it was they did for their grandfather to anyone before. For him to have revealed that to them spoke volumes to her. "I wasn't aware that you knew about that."

Yukari nodded. "Yeah, it kind of slipped out of him, one evening, and he told us about it. You do the same thing, right? Any interesting stories?"

Naoto smiled a bit, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Well, there are a few good ones, I suppose…"

The group dispersed, with Yukari, Fuuka, Naoto, and Junpei heading to the umbrellas to hear some of Naoto's stories. That left Mitsuru, Minato, and Akihiko alone. Mitsuru looked concernedly between her best friend, and her boyfriend, who were busy glaring at each other.

Minato looked at Akihiko with an intense expression on his face, and Akihiko stared back with almost equal intensity. It remained that way for a few seconds before the two ran forward into the sea. Minato's joyous whoop carried behind him. "Race you to that buoy and back!"

She shook her head at their antics, and sat down on a towel, relaxing in the sun. It seemed like she needn't have worried about them, after all.

* * *

A few minutes later, after the two boys had returned to shore, they lay on the sand, huffing and puffing. After a minute, Akihiko sat up and looked at Minato. "Mitsuru told me everything."

Minato sat up, and looked at him, unafraid. "Ok. Good. You're her best friend, and you are one of mine too. It wouldn't be right to keep it from you."

Akihiko nodded. "Yeah, I guess. My question to you is this: How far do you plan to go with her?"

Minato tilted his head in thought. "I…don't really know. It's a little early to be making marriage plans, but…I know where I would like to end up. I want to be with her for as long as I can. That's all I can really say."

Akihiko nodded, smiling. "Alright. That's what I wanted to hear." He glanced back towards where Mitsuru was relaxing. He smirked. "You know, I think that she needs your help with putting on sunscreen."

Minato blushed and made a noise of panicked alarm. Akihiko laughed at his friend's reaction. "About time I was able to get you back, even a little bit."

Minato stared in disbelief at his friend, and then smirked as he made a decision. "You know, Akihiko, I think you're right. I'm going to go tell her you said that."

Akihiko froze and watched as the blue haired teen walked over to his girlfriend. He smiled at her, then said something to her, animatedly pointing towards Akihiko.

Mitsuru quickly snapped to look at Akihiko, giving him an icy glare. She then smirked as she nodded up at her boyfriend in agreement. Minato blushed a furious crimson, and looked towards Akihiko with an incredulous expression.

Akihiko blushed and ran back into the water, escaping before he saw something he might regret.

Minato snickered as the silver haired teen ran for the hills. "Was that really necessary? I'm pretty sure that he was just joking."

Mitsuru laughed strangely, in a way he hadn't heard since Shirakawa. "What makes you think _I_ was joking…Mina-kun?"

Minato turned to her, eyes as wide as dinner plates. She had a blush on her cheeks, but she was smiling, a hint of challenge in her eyes. "I _haven't_ put on sunscreen yet. You don't want me to get burned, do you?"

Minato shuddered, which was odd, considering the temperature on the beach. He then shook his head in disagreement. Her smile widened. "Good, then be a good boyfriend and help me out."

Minato chuckled nervously, and moved to comply with his girlfriend's wishes. After all, he needed to serve his Empress.

* * *

"…and well, that's the gist of it. My secret connection to the Kirijo Group." Minato finished. The group of teens sat around in a circle on the beach as they watched the sun go down. Minato had just told them the story he had been told this morning, and the group was in varying states of shock.

Naoto shook her head in disbelief at her grandfather's actions. "I can't believe that he would hide something like this from you. Why?"

Minato shrugged. "I have no idea. Either way, it doesn't matter. It's in the past, and I can't change it. He knows what he did, and he has to live with the fact that I will _never_ forgive him for it."

Junpei stood up, pacing in anger. "Man, that guy…I hope I don't see him for the rest of this trip, cause I'm liable to give him a piece of my mind!"

Fuuka stood up, placing her hand on Junpei's arm. "Please don't. He may have done something horrible to our friend, but it's like Minato-senpai said: it's in the past now. We can't change it, no matter how bad it is."

Junpei inhaled deeply, then exhaled, tension seeping out of him. "Yeah, you're right, Fuuka-chan. Thanks."

She nodded as she sat back down. Minato smiled at Junpei. "It's alright. I appreciate the thought, Junpei."

Junpei nodded in acknowledgement as Yukari looked at Mitsuru. "So your father is Minato-kun's godfather? And he never told you?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No. I'd never even heard of Saburo Arisato before today. I don't know why. Maybe it was just something he didn't like to discuss."

Yukari shook her head. "I dunno. It's kinda strange that he didn't talk about his best friend to his family at all. Maybe there is something we don't know yet."

Minato nodded. "I agree. I doubt that it was the last conversation about it that I'll be having on this trip." He looked down at the ground. "I just hope that I can handle the rest of it."

Junpei smiled at him. "Don't worry, boss, I know you can. You're the strongest one out of all of us!"

Minato laughed. "You heard him, Akihiko! I'm the strongest!"

Akihiko got up, annoyance written across his face. "Care to prove it, Arisato?"

Minato just laughed. Naoto looked at Junpei with curiosity. "What do you mean, he's the strongest?"

Junpei stammered as he tried to think of an answer. "U-uh…I just meant that he's strong…emotionally! Yeah…that's what I meant."

Naoto looked at Junpei with suspicion while Minato glared at him. Minato then looked at Naoto with exasperation. "Hey, what did I say about them?"

Naoto looked at Minato innocently. "That they were high school students, not suspects?"

Minato nodded sarcastically. "Exactly. Anyway, it's probably getting close to dinner time. Who's hungry!?"

His team nodded enthusiastically. He watched them all file towards the main building and smiled. This day had been a rollercoaster ride of emotion for him. The days ahead promised more. But as he stared at the people he cared about, laughing and talking with one another, he knew he could take it.

.

.

.

_**(Well, that was a lot of information. There's a lot more to come as well. I had a ton of problems writing this thing, because it was so open ended where I could have gone with the day that I had trouble deciding on what should actually be in here. There is a reason that they are revealing this to Minato now. We will eventually get to the reveal with Yukari's father, but we have some other stuff to do first. This is only day 1 of Yakushima after all. I hope you all liked this chapter, and like the direction I am taking it. As always, please review or PM me if you have questions, concerns, criticisms, or if you just like the story. I hope to see you guys in the next chapter! – Dr. Ninja)**_


	11. July 20th

July 20th, 2009

* * *

Minato awoke the next morning to the sound of knocking on his door. He shook himself awake and answered it. It was one of the maids from the previous day. She bowed to him. "I apologize for disturbing your sleep, Master Arisato. However, Master Kirijo would like to speak with you, _before_ your meeting with Master Shirogane."

Minato raised an eyebrow. Takeharu wanted to talk to him, without his grandfather there? As happy as he was he had a connection to his past in his godfather, he still had no idea what the man wanted with him, personally.

However, judging by the story he had told Minato the previous day, Takeharu Kirijo was a dangerous man, with obvious Yakuza connections. He hoped his nervousness didn't show as he responded. "Ok. Can I have a few minutes to become presentable?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course. I will wait out here."

Minato smiled politely and shut the door. He quickly changed and stepped out a few minutes later. The maid bowed to him again, and led him to Takeharu's office. Takeharu looked as presentable as always, with a lighter color grey suit instead of the dark grey one he had been wearing yesterday.

As Minato stepped in at the maid's invitation, Takeharu stood and smiled at Minato. "Ah, it's good to see you feeling better, Minato-kun. Thank you, Yuki."

The maid bowed to the both of them, and closed the door as she left. Takeharu gestured for Minato to sit across from him. Minato smiled at his godfather as he sat. "I am sorry for losing my temper yesterday. I was just…"

Takeharu shook his head. "No need to apologize. Your grandfather has been keeping this secret from you for a long time. It is understandable. However, yesterday's conversation is not why I asked you here. We will continue that when your grandfather arrives."

Minato frowned in confusion. "Then, why am I here, sir?"

Takeharu smirked. It reminded Minato of a predator, circling his prey. "My daughter's behavior concerning you was very strange, yesterday. She has never interrupted a private meeting between me and an associate before, and I don't think that it was simply out of some misplaced concern."

Minato's eyes widened as Takeharu's grin grew. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"

Minato's heart rate increased dramatically. _Oh god, he knows. There isn't any way he can't know, with that grin on his face... If so, why is he playing with me? _Minato decided to test the waters. "W-well, sir, I'm not sure as to what you are referring to. Could you be a little more _specific_?"

Takeharu chuckled. "No need to play coy. You _know_ what I am talking about, Minato. She told me everything."

Minato nodded and sighed. "I figured. So are you here to give me the scary father speech, then?"

Takeharu smiled. "No. You know who I am, and where I come from. Threatening you would be…unnecessary. Besides, if you hurt my daughter, I suspect the first person to hurt _you _would be _her. _ I merely wanted to ask you: Are you _happy_ with her? Otherwise…" A frown came across his features at the thought.

Minato nodded reassuringly, a small, genuine smile on his face. "Yes. More so than I ever thought I'd be, after… well…" He hesitated.

He didn't want to tell Takeharu about the case 2 years ago, but it was the only way to truly convince him that he was serious with Mitsuru. Fortunately, Takeharu beat him to the punch. "I know about Haruya, Minato, and what she did to you. I understand what it means to you, opening yourself to another like this."

Minato's face shuttered. "So, grandfather can hide his secrets from me for years, but when it comes to mine, he just gives them out like calling cards?"

Takeharu shook his head. "No. That incident is part of what we are going to talk about today."

As if on cue, the door opened again, and Kyohei stepped in. He sat down without a word, and looked away from Minato. This behavior confused Minato. He had expected anger at his behavior in the main hall yesterday. His grandfather had never hesitated to yell at him, or berate him in front of others before. However, it seemed as if he were…ashamed.

Takeharu nodded in greeting to Kyohei and sighed. "Shall we start?"

Kyohei nodded and spoke. "Minato, when you came to live with me, I resented you. You reminded me of my daughter so much, that you also constantly reminded me of my own failures as a father. As a grandfather, I hate to say that I haven't improved much."

Minato stared at Kyohei in disbelief. "What…?"

Kyohei ignored the question and continued. "However, even as I resented how much you reminded me of Akane, you were all I had left of her. That is why it broke my heart to see how utterly and completely broken you were, the first time I met you. I hated that you looked like you wished for death, that my daughter's son could be so weak and powerless. I made a vow, then and there, to do whatever it took to fix your heart."

Kyohei shuddered as he breathed in. He was _scared_, Minato realized. "When you came to me, speaking of a secret hour that I could not experience, I almost didn't believe you. However, I saw a spark of life in you, while you were describing it to me. You were _curious_. I realized then, that perhaps I could stoke the fire of that curiosity within you. Shape it into an inferno of purpose and duty, like I did with your mother."

Kyohei shook his head. "It worked for a time. You threw yourself into all the cases I assigned you, baiting you with a promise that I never intended to keep. It wasn't a solution, however. Your curiosity of the Dark Hour was something I could never understand."

Kyohei shook in anger as he clenched his fists. "Then, the kidnapping case happened."

Minato exhaled deeply, calming himself as the events of the case ran through his mind. Kyohei frowned. "I am truly sorry for that, Minato. I knew something was wrong when your reports became less and less detailed as time went on. I recognized what it meant, too late. By the time I realized what had happened to you, I had already gotten the call from Haruya's father."

Kyohei looked at Minato as he continued. "I would have done anything to save you, including paying them the ransom and allowing their escape. However, I could not pay what they asked for." Minato's eyes widened. _Gramps couldn't pay? Then… _

Takeharu smiled sadly. "I got a call from someone I never expected. The famous 'Iron Detective', Kyohei Shirogane, called _me_ for help. He needed a loan."

Minato stared at his grandfather, eyes widened. He shook his head in confusion. "But, the estate…?"

His grandfather shook his head. "The estate has been in our family for years. We are detectives, not businessmen, Minato. We operate because we seek justice, not money. We are compensated well for our work, but not _that_ well."

Minato looked between his grandfather and his godfather. "But, why? You never met me before. Why would you spend so much money to help someone you never met?"

Takeharu smiled. "I said that I never got the chance to pay your father back for saving my life. Plus, my godson was in danger, and I could help him with relatively little cost. It required little thought."

Minato smiled at Takeharu. "I suppose that thanks are in order…" Takeharu grimaced. "You are my godson. Family. You don't need to thank me."

Minato nodded in acknowledgement, then turned back to his grandfather, confusion written on his face. "What about after? When you said that you'd investigate the Dark Hour for me, even though you hadn't planned on keeping that promise. Why did you do it?"

Kyohei closed his eyes. "Because what Haruya did to you…destroyed any hope _I_ had of giving you a new purpose in life. You were broken again, even worse than when your parents died, and I was ashamed that it was because of a case _I_ sent you on, that it was _my_ fault. I felt that the only way to salvage what was left, and prevent your spiral downwards, was to agree to investigate the Dark Hour, to give you a slight amount of hope again."

Minato nodded. It made sense. The mystery of the Dark Hour had been all that had sustained him over the past 2 years, until his epiphany a month ago. "So what? You just called up Takeharu-san, and he told you everything?"

Kyohei smirked and shook his head. "Yes. It was a lucky guess, considering all the circumstantial evidence surrounding your parents' death, but I was sure the Kirijo Group _had_ been involved. This was why I kept Takeharu's identity from you for so long."

Takeharu chuckled. "I nearly dropped the phone when he told me you had been experiencing the Dark Hour for the past 10 years. I was sure that the Shadows would have tried to kill you, but apparently they can only go a certain distance from Tartarus. That is why we are safe here."

Minato nodded, a thought coming to him. "…and also why you know the Full Moon Shadows are still in Iwatodai, instead of scattered around the world."

Takeharu nodded. "Shortly after your grandfather's call, we put together a list of potential Persona users in the area, and went about recruiting them. Your grandfather put us in contact with the local police, and I brought in a mutual friend to help run the group and give it a 'public' face: Shuji Ikutsuki."

Minato inhaled sharply at the realization. He looked at his grandfather. "You helped _form _SEES?"

Kyohei nodded. "The Dark Hour was more dangerous than I had thought. The threat of the Shadows was too great for the general populace, and we had to move quickly to help deal with it. It wasn't just about helping my grandson anymore."

Minato nodded. His grandfather's sense of duty to the people would have forced him to take action. But something still bugged him. "Why didn't you send me there when SEES was formed? Or tell me about it at all?"

Kyohei looked away. "I did it for selfish reasons. I did not want you involved with the Shadows, at first. I felt that it was too dangerous for you to join in your emotional state at the time. However, as time went on, you seemed to heal, to the point that I felt confident in sending you. Takeharu agreed and we decided to send you to Iwatodai, to join SEES. As for not telling you about it, you know why."

Minato felt ashamed as the plan to kill himself ran through his head again. He hadn't been exactly subtle, when he'd told his grandfather what would happen if he didn't investigate the Dark Hour. He shuddered. "Ok, good point. So what was the point in telling me all of this? Explaining about my father, and how SEES formed, I mean."

Takeharu smirked. "Ikutsuki told me that you and Yukari Takeba convinced Mitsuru to tell you the truth about the origins of the Dark Hour. We are here to give you _all_ the rest of the story. About Persona, the Shadows, everything we know."

Minato gaped. There was more? "But I thought that…"

Takeharu frowned. "There are things that I don't tell my daughter, just as your grandfather does not tell _you_ things. Either way, we will continue this conversation tonight, with the rest of SEES."

Kyohei nodded to the both of them, then stood up to leave. Minato called out. "Grandfather!"

Kyohei stopped and turned back. Minato looked at the ground, tension in his frame. "I…don't know if I can forgive you for the lies. There is simply too much you've hidden from me over the years."

Minato looked up, regret in his eyes. "But I understand. And I know that I still care about you, Gramps. So I guess I'm just trying to say…thanks."

Kyohei smiled at him, a rare sight. "There's no need to thank me. I haven't made your life any easier, you know."

Minato smiled back. "That doesn't matter. I _have_ a new purpose in life. You _succeeded_."

Kyohei nodded, tears coming to his eyes. "I'm glad."

Minato got up and hugged his grandfather. Kyohei sniffed and attempted to hide his tears, unsuccessfully. "T-that's enough, boy. Not in front of others."

Minato laughed as he pulled away. "Of course, grandfather. Of course."

Takeharu smiled as he looked at the two of them. "We'll see you all tonight. Enjoy the rest of your day, Minato-kun."

* * *

After the meeting, Minato walked out into the main hall to see the entire group waiting for him. They all had on summer clothes and had bags on their shoulders. At the sound of the door opening, they turned around to see him. Junpei waved. "Hey, boss! Good morning!"

Minato smiled. "Good morning, everyone. What's with the bags? Heading somewhere?"

Yukari nodded. "Yup. There's a nice spot that Mitsuru mentioned that had a fantastic view of the ocean. We got a bunch of food together and are gonna head over there for a picnic! Wanna come?"

Minato smiled. "Of course. I just need to get some stuff, put on some sunscreen, you know..."

At the mention of sunscreen, Akihiko blushed and turned away. Mitsuru noticed and smirked at Minato, remembering the previous day. "Actually, I have some sunscreen in my bag. You can put some on when we get there."

Minato looked at her in confusion, then smiled in recognition. "Oh, right. Ok, sure."

Akihiko grumbled under his breath, and turned to walk out the door. "Two against one is hardly fair…"

Minato started, but then noticed a distinct lack of dark blue hair. "Uh, where's Naoto?"

Fuuka shrugged. "She said that she needed to do something today. Something about a 'practical solution'?"

Minato groaned in realization. "Oh, great. Let's get out of here before I find out what she has in store for me."

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, Minato felt a strange feeling. It felt like he was being watched. He stopped and looked around, surveying the countryside. All he saw were trees and bushes. He shook his head as the feeling passed. Fuuka walked up next to him. "You felt that too?"

Minato nodded. "I'm kind of wishing I'd brought my rapier on this trip."

Fuuka nodded in agreement. "Well, whatever that was, we'd better keep an eye out for anything strange."

Minato nodded, then sighed. "You know, this vacation is turning out to be a lot more stressful than I thought it would."

Fuuka smiled in sympathy. "I feel for you, Minato-senpai. I really do."

Minato smiled. "Thanks, Fuuka. Well, are _you_ enjoying yourself?"

Fuuka nodded. "Yes, very much so. I feel like I belong with all of you, and that is something I haven't really experienced before."

Minato smirked. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way. The group makes it pretty easy to like them." He grimaced as he made a caveat. "Although, Junpei is a bit hard to get along with sometimes, isn't he?"

Fuuka shook her head. "No, he's been very kind to me."

Minato smiled at her. "Ah… Yeah, he's got a good heart, but his brain doesn't always catch up sometimes."

Fuuka smiled. "That's what makes him charming."

Minato chuckled. "Well, Fuuka, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a crush on him."

Fuuka blushed as she sputtered. "W-what?"

Minato laughed. "Oh, you do? Well, now…"

Fuuka blushed more, and a frown appeared across her face. "S-senpai, please stop teasing me."

Minato chuckled. "Ok. I'll stop. But in all seriousness, don't be afraid to try it out. You two might be pleasantly surprised." He mumbled as he walked away. "I know I was…"

Fuuka stared at her friend as he shoved his hands into his pockets and called after the group. Thoughts raced through her head furiously. _What did he mean by that? Why is he trying to set me up with Junpei-kun? Did Junpei-kun ask him to say something? _The thoughts buzzed around through her head like a million insects, all stinging and biting her as she ran to catch up with the group.

* * *

The picnic ended up being a great idea. The SEES members all chatted about silly stories or cracked jokes as they ate, and a jovial atmosphere settled over them. The cliff that they were on had one of the best views that Minato had ever seen. The sun reflected prettily off of the ocean's surface, and the wind blowing off of the ocean cooled and invigorated the group. They finally had a moment to themselves, without having to worry about the Shadows or the Dark Hour. They could finally relax after all their hard work so far.

However, time waits for no one, especially those who deserve it. The sun went down, and night started to fall. Minato called the team's attention when he noticed the time. "Hey, listen up, guys."

The team looked to their leader, alert and ready. He smiled proudly at that, then spoke. "So, Takeharu-san and my grandfather filled me in to the real reason we are here."

Junpei grimaced. "Oh, great. Are there Shadows are here too?"

Minato shook his head. "No. Ikutsuki-san must have told them that Mitsuru-san revealed the truth about the Dark Hour to us. They want to give us the rest of the story."

Mitsuru shook her head in disbelief. "The rest of the story? But I thought that I knew the whole story?"

Minato smirked humorlessly. "That's something our families have in common, it seems: parental figures that keep things from their charges."

Yukari scoffed. "So, when are they planning on doing this?"

Minato smiled challengingly. "Tonight. That's why I brought it up."

Fuuka nodded. "Right, we should probably head back then."

The rest of the team nodded at Fuuka's words, and they quickly packed up their things. By the time that they had gotten back to the estate, the sun had set, and dinner was served. The time for rest had passed, and life reared its head once again.

* * *

After dinner, the SEES members followed the maids into the family theater. Sitting on the middle couch in the room was Takeharu and Kyohei. Both of them nodded in greeting to the team as they filed in. Takeharu smiled as he spoke. "Hello, everyone. Allow me to introduce us both. I am Takeharu Kirijo, Mitsuru's father. This is Kyohei Shirogane, Minato-kun's Grandfather."

Junpei scoffed at the mention of Kyohei. He looked to Minato. "So this is the guy who raised you, huh?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, this is him." Junpei walked up and stared Kyohei in the eyes. "You got a lot of nerve, man, treating Minato like that."

Minato smirked at Junpei's honest, if foolhardy, attempt to intimidate his grandfather. "Junpei, I appreciate it, but it's not necessary. He explained himself, and while I don't like it, I do understand."

Junpei looked back to him, and nodded. "Ok, boss. Whatever you say." Despite his words, he continued to glare at Kyohei as he took his seat.

Kyohei smirked at Junpei's antics, then straightened as the rest of the SEES members sat down. "Thank you all for coming. Now, we apologize for the deception, but it was necessary for a time. Knowing that the Dark Hour was manmade from the beginning could have been disastrous. We needed for all of you to see the dangers that the Shadows presented before we felt that it was time to reveal these secrets to you."

Takeharu smiled. "However, I underestimated how far some of you would go to find the truth. I knew that Mitsuru would not share the information about our family's involvement in the Dark Hour's creation willingly, even though I have told her time and again that it is not her fault." Mitsuru turned away from him in embarrassment. This had been an argument between them for years, with neither side relenting in their belief.

Takeharu continued. "However, the bread crumbs were always there, and some of you knew where to look. When Mitsuru shared the information with you all, and you showed that you understood the dangers of the Dark Hour, we decided to reveal everything."

Takeharu looked at Mitsuru. "I am sorry I hid this from you, but it was necessary. Some of what we are about to tell you is potentially dangerous knowledge."

Mitsuru nodded, gesturing for him to continue. He nodded, a frown on his face. "We know that Shadows are strange, mysterious beings, but where do they come from? Who created them? Those were answers we needed, and we found it in some early religious texts. Many early tales tell of monsters that preyed on the minds of humans, and that these monsters had many strange abilities. However, all of these 'monsters' seemed to represent a particular fear or hatred that the person telling the story exhibited. Therefore, we theorized that Shadows were actually created by human emotion, a concept made manifest."

Junpei shook his head in confusion. "I don't get it. How can a concept be real?"

Minato smiled. "Just because it's something you can't see, doesn't make it not real, Junpei. Either way, it explains why the Shadows look the way they do. We assign specific shapes and designs to certain concepts, like a heart for love, for example. The Shadows then take those forms and use them as physical representations of what they _are_."

Takeharu nodded. "Correct. Now, we knew that much, but still had not seen a Shadow. They were very much outside of our reality. We had no way of studying them without a live subject. Then, after 2 years, we had a breakthrough. A brilliant scientist joined the research team, and gave a new theory: perhaps the Shadows were attracted to certain people, more so than others. Maybe they were attracted to certain emotions, such as despair and hate. They looked through the employee records and found a man who fit the emotional profile that they needed. My father quickly sent for him, and they placed him in the containment room. What happened next changed everything we knew."

Takeharu swallowed. "You see, the man we had found was going through a particularly rough period in his life. His five year old daughter had been diagnosed with a rare form of throat cancer, and he was struggling to keep hope that she would survive. The Shadow seemed to be attracted to that despair and hopelessness, and we saw one for the first time, that day. It appeared within the containment chamber and attacked the man."

Minato swallowed. "And you still continued the experiments after it killed him?"

Takeharu snorted in amusement. "I didn't say it killed him. The man reacted instinctively as soon as he saw the Shadow. He dodged the attack, and put his hand up to his head in the shape of a gun."

Everyone's eyes widened. Minato inhaled sharply. "But, that's…"

Takeharu smiled at Minato. "Your father summoned a Persona, and destroyed the Shadow, right in front of my eyes. He was the first Persona-user we ever saw."

Minato barked a surprised laugh. "How?"

Takeharu chuckled. "Remember how I said that my father found a part of your father's heritage he didn't like? Saburo, and you, are descended from one of the oldest known Ainu families in Japan."

Yukari shook her head. "The Ainu? What does that have to do with anything?"

Takeharu smirked. "Everything. You see, the Ainu shamans were said to be able to summon their gods to help them in battle against evil forces. It was only under times of extreme duress that these gods manifested and slew their enemies. Sound familiar?"

Mitsuru nodded. "It explains why our Persona's all take the forms of gods and heroes, and why Minato can summon without an Evoker. But what about the rest of us?"

Takeharu shook his head. "I do not know. Saburo's genealogy made explaining his ability easy, but otherwise, the potential for Persona has so far eluded all attempts to explain it. All we have been able to figure out is _who_ has it, not _why_ they have it."

Takeharu grimaced as he got back on track. "Either way, those few moments in the containment lab provided justification for research that almost everyone else considered trash. We had proven that Shadows were real, and that there were ways to control them if they escaped. Unfortunately, Saburo was taken away and forced to become an experiment himself, as my father wanted to replicate the power he had shown."

Takeharu's face grimaced in pain. "I argued with my father for weeks after, attempting to get him released to his family. It wasn't right, I said, to do this to a man who had shown us such loyalty. He refused, saying I was too young and naïve to understand what had to be done, for the sake of the project and the group."

He shook his head. "I switched fields after. I joined the research team looking into Saburo's Persona, hoping that a friendly face would help placate him long enough for us to do the research my father wanted, and to finish it as quickly as possible. I quickly realized, after talking with him about it, that his power was a part of himself, a piece of his personality. Thus the term Persona was born. We then theorized that it was the threat of extreme stress that enabled him to use his Persona ability. In response, we designed a piece of equipment to replicate the process he described feeling at the time of the attack, as well as breaking free the power from those with the ability: The Evoker."

As Takeharu continued, Minato felt his head swirl with the knowledge. _Dad was the original Persona-user? But how did they even start something like this? _ He shook his head in confusion, and held up a hand. "Takeharu-san, all this makes sense, except for one thing: How did your father know to start the research into the Shadows in the first place? What could have possibly given him such an outlandish idea?"

Takeharu glanced at the floor. "My father somehow came into possession of an artifact of great power. He called it a 'Plume of Dusk'. These Plumes have the ability to warp time and space, and have a strange material quality to them as well. These objects convinced him that the Shadows were real, and that they could be exploited for more of these Plumes. He was right, of course. The more Shadows we gathered in one place, the more Plumes we could harvest from them. These items are what allow all of our technology to function during the Dark Hour, as well as being what powers your Evokers. That should give you an idea of how powerful, and valuable, they are."

Takeharu shook his head. "Over time, my father realized that the Shadows _themselves_ had the ability to control time and space, not just the Plumes. So 3 years into the project, the goal switched from creating Plumes of Dusk to creating a time-manipulation device, with Shadows as the power source."

Minato's eyes widened. "That's insane! Does no one read what happens when you mess with time? Bad stuff happens!" Fuuka and Mitsuru both nodded in response to Minato's outburst, both thinking along similar lines.

Takeharu smiled, not unkindly, at his reaction. "But imagine if you could control the flow of time, eliminating unwanted events before they occur. That would be almost unimaginable power, don't you think?"

Minato shook his head. "It would be too dangerous. Paradoxes and other world-ending things could just as easily occur. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that power corrupts. The capacity to abuse it would be too great."

Kyohei nodded. "Then it is fortunate that he did not succeed, correct?"

Minato nodded at his grandfather as Takeharu continued. "However, in his later years, my father seemed to embrace nihilism. He cared less and less for the people around him, even letting Saburo go after the Evokers had been developed. Something happened to him several months before the experiment's completion, and he no longer allowed me access to the experiment files and personnel. I knew something was wrong, and so I warned Saburo to get his family out of Iwatodai."

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, it wouldn't matter, in the end."

Takeharu then grabbed a remote and hit a button on it. The lights dimmed, and the projector came on. A static-y and corrupted video was on the screen. It showed a man in a lab coat with light brown hair and a fearful expression on his face. Yukari gasped at who was on the screen.

The man spoke. "I hope this video reaches safe hands. Please listen carefully. My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea. This experiment should never have been conceived."

Minato looked at Takeharu. "What is this?"

Takeharu looked at Yukari. "This was recorded moments before the incident occurred, by the head scientist at the time, Eiichiro Takeba." The team gasped at the realization. Yukari's eyes filled with tears as her father's last words played out before her.

"I'm afraid that what I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster. But if I hadn't, the entire world may have paid the price for my mistakes." He shook his head. "Please listen carefully. The Shadows that have been amassed here will be scattered due to the explosion. To end this nightmare, you must destroy all of them!"

Minato looked at Yukari. She was crying at the realization of her father's actions. He reached over to grasp her shoulder, and she reached back and grasped his hand. Eiichiro swallowed and looked to the camera with a sad grin on his face. "I…am to blame for all of this. I knew the risks, but with the promise of success so close…I was blinded to the manipulations of my employer. It is all my fault…" A large explosion happened in the background as he closed his eyes. The video stopped.

Yukari sank to the floor, letting go of Minato's hand. She sobbed. "It was true…everything they said about him…" She stood up angrily, and whirled on Mitsuru. "You knew, didn't you?!"

Mitsuru shook her head emphatically. "God, no, Yukari. I had no idea." Yukari shook her head in anger and disbelief, then stormed out.

Minato stood up and glared at Takeharu after Yukari's sudden exit. "You could have warned her! It was unnecessary to just throw that on us with no explanation!"

Takeharu looked at him in shock. "I was prepared to explain…"

Minato shook his head angrily, cutting him off. "You know, this shit is _exactly_ why I have trust issues. No one tells anyone anything! I'll be right back."

Mitsuru got up as well. "I'll come with." He nodded and the two of them chased after their distraught teammate.

* * *

The two of them ran out into the hall to see the main door close. They quickly ran outside to see Yukari slumped down on the beach, kneeling in front of the water. They both sat down in the sand next to her, and waited for her to calm down.

Yukari eventually sat down on the sand as well, tears drying on her face. She looked at Minato with a sad smile on her face. "You know how I said that my dad died in a lab explosion? I knew that he was a part of what happened there, but to find out that he caused it all…"

She shook her head, fresh tears appearing. "People didn't know what caused the incident, so a lot of vicious rumors started to spread." Minato winced as she swallowed her pain. "We had to move a few times because of them. I never believed any of them, though. I used to get into fights about it at school all the time. I'd defend my dad, saying that he would never do something to hurt someone else. But now I know, it was all his fault…"

She looked towards Mitsuru sadly. "The whole reason I came back to Iwatodai, why I joined SEES, was to prove he wasn't involved. That he was innocent. Turns out I was wrong about him…" She sobbed as the tears started to fall.

Minato shook his head angrily. "Come on, Yukari. Are you just gonna give up on him that easily?" She looked up at him, shock and anger in her eyes. "What?" Minato stood up, his anger at her driving him upward. "I can't believe that you are this selfish. I thought you were better than that!" Mitsuru stood up, shock on her features. "Minato, what are you doing?"

Minato was about to retort when Yukari stood up, her fists clenched with rage. "What the hell is your problem?! I find out that my dad is the cause for this, and you are saying _I'm_ selfish for being distraught!?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah. Because you aren't looking at the whole picture." She looked at him in confusion. He continued. "Your dad found out that Old Man Kirijo was doing some bad shit for bad reasons. If your dad was a bad guy, he wouldn't have sabotaged the experiment! He would have kept going, regardless of what would have happened, like the rest of the schmucks who worked for Kouetsu. Instead, he sacrificed his life to make sure that the experiment _wasn't_ completed. Sure, it had some bad side effects, like the Dark Hour and Tartarus. But the alternative…" He shuddered at the thought.

He shook his head. "I don't know if I could do what your dad did. It takes a lot of guts to make a call like that. Sacrificing his own life to save the world…?" Minato smiled at her. "It would take a real hero to do something like that."

Yukari smiled at Minato, his words sinking in. "You…think so?" Minato nodded. "Yeah. Also, look at it this way: Your dad gave us the information we need to stop the Dark Hour and Tartarus. In a way, we are continuing his legacy, finishing his work…" He stepped up to her and hugged her. "…Saving the world."

Yukari smiled and hugged him back. After a few minutes, she pulled away. "Thanks for that. You're right. My dad didn't do this to hurt people, but because he had no choice."

Minato nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't a madman, and you know that. I just pointed it out for you."

Yukari then looked to Mitsuru, regret on her face. "I'm sorry for yelling at you in there, senpai. It wasn't fair."

Mitsuru shook her head. "It's quite alright, Yukari. I don't blame you, considering the past."

Yukari shook her head in rebuttal. "No, I made a promise to give up this grudge I held against you, and I intend to keep it." She stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

Mitsuru smiled, reached out and shook. "Friends."

Minato smiled at the resolution between the two. "I'm proud of you, Yukari."

Yukari smiled brightly at him. "Good. I'm glad…Big Bro."

Minato's eyes bugged. "Oh, god, please don't call me that. It makes me feel old and crusty."

Yukari laughed heartily at his comical expression. "Oh, I have to tell Junpei that one. The look on your face is too good."

Minato's face twisted in mock anger. "Oh, no, you don't. Remember that thing we talked about, with hell being cold? Same goes for this too." He made a fake shiver, pretending he was cold.

Yukari blushed and stuck her tongue out at him. "You're no fun."

Mitsuru looked between the two of them in confusion. "What thing? What did you talk about?"

Both of them looked at her and blushed. They spoke simultaneously. "_Nothing."_

Mitsuru's eyes narrowed at Minato. He felt a cold source of dread crawl down his spine. Yukari smiled. "I win this round, Minato-kun." He grumbled as he attempted to shirk away from his girlfriend's glare.

* * *

After Minato had managed to unstick himself from Mitsuru's glare, the three of them walked back in to the house. The rest of the team was there waiting for them. They crowded around, all asking how Yukari was doing. After she managed to placate them all with assurances, they said that the two older gentlemen had basically gotten all the important stuff out of the way. Akihiko had said that Takeharu-san had been very adamant that he did not blame Yukari's father for the incident, instead blaming the Kirijo Group of old for pushing him too far. They had then broken up for the night, all tired and drained with the amount of information that had been dumped on them tonight.

However, as Mitsuru stepped towards her room, she noticed that Minato was standing frozen in front of his door, staring at it intently. She frowned and walked over to him. "Something wrong?"

Minato nodded. "I haven't seen Naoto all day, except for at dinner. Then at dinner, she kept pointedly looking at me during really strange moments. All of these things point to her having done something. Since I haven't been in my room all day, this is the only place that she could be _sure_ to have pranked me from."

Mitsuru nodded in realization. "Ah. Well, you know what they say about band-aids and duct tape."

Minato raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Just get it over with?"

She nodded. He sighed. "Alright…"

He opened the door to see nothing wrong, until he looked at the bed. Or rather, where it should have been. He sighed. "She took the bed. The whole thing. She must have been more pissed than I realized. She probably even got the maids to help her..."

Mitsuru shook her head. "Why is that so bad? The chairs can't be that bad…"

Minato chuckled. "You remember what happened the last time that I couldn't sleep? I do. I kind of yelled at a few people, said some really unkind things."

Mitsuru nodded in realization. "Ah. I see. That's bad." She thought it over, then blushed as she came up with a plan. "W-well, you could always…sleep on my bed…"

Minato's eyes widened as he turned to her. He chuckled nervously. "I don't really think I should be doing that. I-I mean, we've only been dating for a couple of weeks, and, besides, like you said, the chairs can't be that bad…"

She inhaled and looked him in the eyes, growing bolder. "Look, I am offering because I care about you, and I trust you. I know that you won't do anything. This way, you can sleep well, and I…" She trailed off.

He smiled slightly as he finished for her. "Get to sleep next to me?"

She blushed brilliantly. "I…Maybe."

He smiled disarmingly. "Alright. I trust you."

She smiled brightly and led him to her room. He silently shut the door and stood there, rubbing the back of his head, nervous. "L-listen…I…can just sleep on the floor, or something…"

She shook her head and walked over to him. She kissed him lightly, and led him over to the bed. "Honestly, you think too much."

She pushed him down on it and smiled. "I'll take the side you don't want."

He smiled at her, then picked the side closest to the wall. She slid in next to him and grasped his hand in hers. "Good night, Minato."

He smiled brightly as he looked up at the ceiling. "Good night, Mitsuru. Thank you."

She sighed happily. "You're welcome…"

.

.

.

_**(I'm not gonna lie: I'm not too happy with this chapter. It feels really plot-dumpy. Please let me know if you guys feel the same so I can try to rewrite it as soon as possible. If not, then I will be doing Operation: Babe Hunt, and Aigis next chapter. I hope you guys liked my explanation of how things even got started for the Kirijo group, cause that was one thing that I was very confused on in the game. Also, Minato's dad was the first Persona-user. Hmmm. Anyway, We'll stop with the plot dump stuff on the next day, and it will mainly be character development and stuff like that. Hope you maybe kinda sorta enjoyed this, and PLEASE review if you didn't. Anyways, I hope to see you all next chapter! – Dr. Ninja )**_

_**Edit: Maybe I could combine this chapter with the last one. Let me know if that would work for you guys.**_


	12. July 21st

July 21st, 2009

* * *

Minato woke up to the smell of something fragrant and intoxicating. He inhaled deeply. It was lavender, and it made his head spin. He opened his eyes to see a shock of red hair splayed out on his chest. He momentarily shook his head in confusion until the memories of the previous night swept over him. His eyes widened as he realized that Mitsuru was using him for a pillow. His heart beat faster as a twinge of arousal shot through his body.

At that point, Mitsuru stirred, sitting up and yawning. She looked back at him, and her own eyes widened. He smiled at her. "Hey, fancy meeting you here."

She stared at him, then chuckled at his nonchalance. "Well, technically, this is my bed…"

He laughed. "So that's why I didn't recognize where I was when I woke up. My mistake. Must have gotten turned around on the way to my bed, landed here instead. Honest."

She gave him a mock glare. "I hope that this doesn't happen often. It would get rather awkward, I would imagine."

He shook his head. "Nope, it only happens to shockingly beautiful red heads who can freeze people with her glares."

She shrugged. "Can't be too many of those."

He smiled sweetly at her. "Only one I know of."

She grinned. "Flatterer."

She leaned in and melded her lips with his. Normally, she would be nervous about kissing him like this, but right now, she didn't care. She wanted to taste him, now. He wasn't much better, matching her hunger and intensity. What started off innocent, quickly grew. She increased the intensity of her kiss as a fire of desire lit in her belly. He pressed back with equal fervor, sitting up and grabbing her arms, pulling her closer.

Mitsuru moaned at the anticipation and arousal building in her body at his touch. It felt like her every nerve was on fire, and every point of contact that he made lit up her body and made her shiver.

Minato was lost in the intensity of the kiss, his mind blank, no thought in his mind but one: _more_. He was completely addicted to her taste, and he couldn't get enough. He moaned in response to the way she writhed in his arms.

They couldn't get close enough to each other. He wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, freeing room for him to mesh his body with hers. The intensity started to become unbearable, for both of them. They needed to be closer, touching skin to skin…

All of a sudden, a knock on the door broke them out of the arousal-induced fugue state, and they pulled away. Mitsuru cleared her throat, and shakily answered the summons. "Yes?"

One of the maids called through the door. "Breakfast is served, milady."

Mitsuru looked at Minato in alarm. They had slept too soundly, and missed their opportunity to sneak him back to his room. "U-um, very well. I'll be right out."

The maid's voice rang out in response. "Of course, milady."

Minato looked at his girlfriend, breathing heavily. Things could easily have gone much farther than had been intended, if they hadn't been interrupted. He cleared his throat. "U-um, not that I hated that wakeup strategy, but...I don't think that we are quite ready for that."

She nodded regretfully. "I agree. I apologize for my forwardness."

He smiled at her. "And I told you, you apologize too much. Did it look like I wasn't enjoying myself?"

She smiled shyly. "N-no…"

He grinned. "Then you have nothing to apologize for."

He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he continued. "_That_…is something that can be brought up another time, further down the line. You know, once we know each other better. Plus, I'm pretty sure you have to have been dating for like, months, before that even comes on to the table. It's only normal, right?"

She chuckled. "You already know some of my dark secrets, and I know some of yours. We already know more about each other than most married couples do. You've met my father, who is also your godfather, and he _approves_ of you, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. All of _this,_ happening in the few weeks after we practically assault each other in a love hotel. Speaking of which, I'm surprised we have been able to keep to ourselves _that_ long.

She tilted her head in thought, then smiled. "Oh, and we both fight Shadows during a secret time of night, preventing the deaths of thousands."

She shook her head in amusement. "I don't think that _normal_ comes anywhere near our relationship."

He nodded, accepting her point. "True. But that doesn't mean we should just rush things, you know?" He blushed and turned away. "…I want to do things right."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Most boys would be raring to jump into bed with her at this point, but not him. She smiled sweetly at him. "You are a strange one, sometimes, but…" She pulled his head around and kissed him lightly. "I think I like that about you."

He smiled brightly. "I'm glad. I'd hate to _disappoint_ you."

She smiled sweetly. "You haven't so far…"

He cleared his throat. "Well, now I'm motivated to keep that high opinion, _especially_ after I win our little bet."

Her eyes glinted challengingly. "Well, I won't hold my breath. But, if you _do_ win, I will have to raise my standards quite a bit…"

He laughed. "Works for me. I like a challenge. Now, here's a question: How am I gonna get back to my room unnoticed?"

* * *

Mitsuru decided that she would check to make sure the others were in the dining room, before letting him leave her room. After doing so, she knocked on the bedroom door to let him have the all clear. He opened the door and smiled. "I'll see you down there. Make sure that Junpei doesn't eat everything before I get there."

She nodded, and kissed him lightly. "Alright. I'll see you down there."

He watched her leave, then crept to his room and opened the door. All things considered, he should have known better. There were any number of clues that told him that he wasn't alone in the room. One of the chairs being moved to the corner, for example. Or the fact that the bed, which had been missing the previous night, was now back. But Minato noticed none of these things. His eagerness to spend the day with his comrades and friends, as well as the excellent way he had awoken this morning, had blinded him to all of this. So when Naoto's voice sounded from the corner of the room as he was changing, he was decidedly less prepared than usual.

His scream of surprise was several octaves too high, he decided quickly. He whirled around to look at his cousin, who was snickering in the corner at his less than manly reaction. He glared at her. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

Once she had calmed down, her look of amusement quickly turned to one of concerned anger. "Well, I came in around midnight last night, wondering how you were sleeping without a bed. Imagine my surprise when you weren't anywhere in here. I nearly called for help, thinking you had been kidnapped."

He felt his stomach drop as he realized what was happening. His face broke into a look of horror as she continued. "At that point, I went to find Grandfather, to see if he was with you. I found him and he didn't know where you were. So I went to Takeharu-san, to see if _he_ knew where you were."

Minato closed his eyes. He was dead. More than dead. He was toast. Naoto continued. "He didn't know either, but he asked me why I was so concerned. I told him the whole story; that the maids and I had conspired to take your bed away as punishment for forgetting to call me. After all, I know how upset you get when you don't get a good night's rest."

Minato shook his head in disbelief. There was no way that his luck was that bad. Unfortunately, Naoto dispelled that illusion. "At that, his face turned an uncomfortable color of red, and he stated that he had a good idea where you were, and that you were safe. With that, he sent me off without another word."

Minato sank to the floor, strength leaving his muscles. With each word, Naoto dug a deeper hole for his stomach to fall into. "I thought that his reaction was rather strange, so I decided to wake up early, to see if you would come back. Lo and behold, I see you come out of Mitsuru-san's room, and not only that…" She leaned in for dramatic effect, anger blazing in her eyes. "I saw you kiss her. So _that's_ why I am in your room, cousin."

Minato shook his head regretfully. This is not how he had planned to reveal his relationship to his cousin. In fact, he would rather have taken Junpei, or Yukari, rather than…this. "Naoto, I…"

She cut him off. "You know, I wasn't sure you _had_ changed during your time away in Iwatodai. Now I _know_ you have. Is that why you forgot to call? Too busy _getting_ busy with _her_?"

A blaze of anger ignited immediately at the insult and the jealous tone. He stood up, staring straight at her, voice low. "That is extremely uncalled for, Naoto. I'm sorry I forgot to call, but that does not give you an excuse to insult her like that."

She stood up too, glaring right back. "Really? Why is that?"

He moved the table out of the way to stand right in front of her, anger blazing on his face. "Because you don't know a damn thing about her. Now stop acting like a petulant child."

She scoffed. "Insulting me isn't exactly endearing me toward you, cousin. Is it _petulant_ to be concerned about your mental state, and her intentions? If so, then forgive me for being _petulant_."

He leaned in closer, staring right into her eyes. "If you want to talk about this like rational adults, and give me a chance to explain, then by all means, we can sit down and talk. But if you just want to sit there like a child, slinging shit around with no regard for who it's aimed at…" He pointed at the open door in a clear invitation to leave.

She quickly walked out of the room, and headed for her room. He heard the door slam, and he kicked the chair she had been sitting in. That had not gone as expected. He breathed in and out, attempting to calm himself. He quickly got dressed and headed for the dining room, despite the sick feeling that settled in his gut.

* * *

Breakfast had been an awkward affair. Takeharu had glared at him throughout the meal, but he could have cared less. Compared to the feeling that Naoto's reaction had given him, he felt as if Takeharu was the one he had to worry about the least. He would be angry, but he wouldn't be vindictive about it. He had at least known about the relationship beforehand, and would hopefully be more understanding of the circumstances surrounding the incident. Naoto, however, had always taken the things he had hidden from her personally, and this was one of the worst ways possible to find out about his relationship with Mitsuru.

He had eaten quickly, without joining in on the regular festive talking and joking that normally accompanied breakfast. While he ate, he internally debated about what he should do to fix things between him and Naoto, in order to convince her that he was serious about Mitsuru. He came to a decision. As much as he didn't like it, she deserved to know. He had hidden it from her for long enough. So, after he had finished eating, he had walked out of the dining room, and straight to Naoto's room.

He knocked on the door. He got no response. He knocked again. Same thing. He shook his head and sighed. "Naoto, come on. Open the door."

Her angry voice shot through the door like a bullet. "Why, so you can treat me like a child again for being concerned about you?"

He felt his anger build again, but he pushed it down. "I'm sorry about that, but you did insult my girlfriend for no reason. That kind of makes me a little tetchy."

She scoffed. "Well, what do you want, an apology?"

He shook his head. "No, I want to tell you what happened to me, 2 years ago."

She made no noise for several moments, then opened the door. Her eyes were red with tears, and her knuckles were turning white after being clenched for so long.

He frowned at her disheveled state, and stepped inside. He smiled sadly as he wiped the tearstreaks off her face. "Hey, I'm sorry."

She chuckled a bit. "Well, if you are ready to tell me this, then I suppose I can forgive you…"

He nodded as he sat in the chair against the wall. "Well, I'm never _really_ ready to share this story, but it should give you an idea of just how much Mitsuru actually means to me, and why you don't have to be worried about her."

She slid into the chair in front of him as he began. "Well, you know that kidnapping case that Gramps was working on a few years ago…"

* * *

Mitsuru had been called into her father's office after breakfast. She had an idea what it was about, and the glare that he had on his face as he entered confirmed her suspicions. "I said that I approved of him, Mitsuru. That does not mean that you can just jump straight to…"

She held up her hand, cutting her father off. "That is not _any_ of your business." The anger in her tone stunned him. She had never talked back to him like this before.

Mitsuru continued during her father's stunned silence. "If I want to invite him into my room to sleep, after our maids helped a _guest_ break the rules of hospitality, then I should have every right to do so without suspicion of my motives, as both his girlfriend _and_ his host."

Takeharu stared in surprise at his daughter. "Oh? …So he just slept, then?"

Mitsuru nodded, an exasperated look on her face. "Yes, of course. What else would we do?"

Takeharu reddened in embarrassment, and Mitsuru shook her head, blushing at the realization of what he had assumed. "Father, we've only been together a few weeks…"

He turned away. "I'm sorry, Mitsuru. I know I should trust you more than that, but…" He turned back, a regretful look in his eye. "I just don't want to see you hurt again."

She smiled and walked around the desk, to hug her father. He blinked in surprise as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm as scared as you are, but I trust him, Father. He has the same reasons to be afraid of this as me, but he seems to _want_ this. He _wants_ to be with me, and…I _want_ to be with him. "

He wrapped his arms around her, holding his little girl close. "Of course. I understand. Sometimes, it's easy to forget how much you've grown. I'm sorry for doubting your intentions, and not trusting you."

He pulled away, and stared her in the eyes. "That does not mean that I will approve of repeat performances. I will not be so understanding again."

She smirked and nodded. "Of course, father."

Takeharu smiled. "Good, now go and enjoy the rest of your vacation. I will make sure that Minato-kun is not put in that situation again, trust me." He dismissed her with a smile, and watched as she left, a slight look of disappointment on her face.

* * *

"…and then he told me to take a sabbatical. He'd get back to me when he had a lead for this project we'd be working on together. 2 years later, and here I am." Naoto stared at her cousin with a look of horror on her face as he finished his story. She quickly bolted out of the chair and launched herself into his arms. He groaned in surprise as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for saying those things earlier. I had no idea. Grandpa never even mentioned it, and I knew that you would get angry if I looked into it again, and, I just…"

He patted her arm, interrupting her rambling. "It's alright. I'm over it. But if you want to earn my forgiveness? Talk to Mitsuru. Get to know her."

Naoto pulled away, and nodded. "Alright, I will. If she could pull you out of…that…then she deserves it." She looked down at the ground. "I'm really sorry for what I said earlier about her… and for telling her dad."

Minato laughed. "Look, Mitsuru and I just slept in the same bed last night, and that's all. If he can't trust his daughter that much, then…" He shook his head.

Naoto smiled. "Still, I doubt that he's going to be pleased. How long have you two been going out?"

Minato grimaced. "…a few weeks."

She stared at him, and barked out a laugh. "He's definitely not going to be pleased."

Minato shook his head. "No, but I'll fight for her if I have to."

She smiled. "I have no doubt. You're my cousin. We fight for what we care about." Naoto leaned in and hugged her cousin again. He smiled and hugged her back. She leaned in and whispered. "I missed you, Watson."

Minato pulled back. "I missed you too, Holmes."

She laughed and got up. "Do you think that there's any food left?"

Minato shrugged. "Depends on what kind of clip Junpei got on today. Maybe, maybe not."

Naoto laughed and stepped out of the room. Minato got up to follow her out, closing the door behind him. He headed for his own room, looking forward to reading some more of the book he had brought with him. _Maybe now, I can actually take some time to relax today…_

* * *

As Mitsuru walked out into the main hall, she saw the other girls gathered around Naoto. Naoto noticed her approach and smiled at her. Mitsuru raised her eyebrow in confusion. Minato's cousin had not interacted with her much on this trip, and was probably the reason why she had just had that chat with her father. To see such an obvious change in opinion, so quickly, was strange. Yukari and Fuuka both smiled at Mitsuru as she came to stand next to them. "Hey, Senpai! You wanna come on a walk with us? Naoto-chan invited us. Oh, but don't tell the guys. This is gonna be just us girls."

Mitsuru shook her head in confusion. "Why wouldn't we invite the boys?"

Yukari smirked. "Cause…we can."

Naoto chimed in. "I also just want to hear about the three of you. I have learned plenty about Junpei-san and Akihiko-san already, but not much about you three. This is just an excuse to get to know my cousin's female dorm mates a bit better."

Mitsuru thought about it. Naoto was part of Minato's family, and although she knew the basics, there wasn't much that Mitsuru knew about the girl. This would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about her as a person. After all, it was only fair. Minato knew a lot about her family in comparison.

She nodded in agreement. "Alright. We can walk up to the Jyomon-cedar tree. It's a lovely walk."

Naoto nodded. "Very well."

Fuuka and Yukari nodded their agreement as well. As they turned to leave, Fuuka ran to the small desk next to the phone on the wall, and wrote down where they were heading on a piece of paper. She then left it with one of the maids. "Just in case they need to find us." She said.

Yukari groaned. "You know, they're just going to follow us that way, Fuuka. Why bother with a note?"

Fuuka smiled. "I don't want them to worry about us."

Naoto smirked. "I don't think we will have to worry about that, Yukari-san."

Yukari looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

Naoto smiled and turned away. "Oh, no reason."

Yukari and Mitsuru looked at each other as they walked out the door and onto the path to the tree. That had been…suspicious. And if Naoto was anything like her cousin, that was worrying.

* * *

Minato was relaxing on the chair in his room, enjoying the time where he did not have to worry about Student Council, or school, or the Dark Hour, and he could just sit down and enjoy a good book.

Or at least, he was trying to relax, until a rapid staccato of knocks sounded at his door. He sighed as he got up and opened the door. It was Junpei. He was dressed in his swimsuit and omni-present baseball cap.

Looking at the state of Minato's dress, a t-shirt and shorts, Junpei sighed in exasperation. "Come on, boss, the hell are you doing? Spending all your time inside reading, when there is a _beach_ to take advantage of? For shame, dude. For shame."

Minato shook his head in amusement. "What do you want, Junpei, apart from critiquing my use of vacation time?"

Junpei smiled. "The girls went for a walk to the Jyomon-ceder tree, so that gives us the perfect excuse to train!"

Minato raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Train? Train for what? We can't exactly use our Persona's here, you know."

Junpei shook his head. "No, man, I mean girl training! Akihiko-senpai seems to have some sort of a complex surrounding them…" Minato smirked at that. "…and you can't seem to charm your way into a girl's heart either." Minato felt his gaze harden, but he managed to restrain himself from exclaiming he had a girlfriend in annoyance. "So I, Junpei Iori, Cupid Extraordinaire, am here to train you both in the ways of romance and seduction. What do you say?"

Minato shook his head in amusement. It was like fate really hated him sometimes. He couldn't say no, because that would probably lead to really awkward questions that he wasn't sure he wanted to answer just yet. He didn't want to say yes, because,

A: Junpei was probably no better at romancing than Akihiko.

B: If the girls, especially Mitsuru, caught them, there would be hell to pay.

And C: He didn't want to. He _really_ didn't want to.

Unfortunately, Minato's pensive silence was mistaken for nervousness, and so Junpei grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out of his room. By the time that Minato realized what was happening, Akihiko had been similarly dragged out, and they had been brought into the main hall.

Akihiko shook himself out of Junpei's grip after his surprise wore off. "Junpei, what the hell, man? I was going to go endurance training!"

Junpei shook his head in exasperation. "Come on, Senpai! You have been training during every opportunity that you have gotten while you are here. You need to relax! Live a little."

Minato shook his head in amusement. It didn't look like he was getting out of this, so he might as well have a few laughs while he was at it. "So why am _I_ here?"

Junpei smirked. "Training."

Akihiko shook his head in confusion. "What? Why does he need training? Am I falling down on the job or something?"

Junpei threw up his hands. "No, senpai, romance training! Minato's always so serious when it comes to talking to girls. He needs to learn to relax around them, flirt a little, you know. Stop being such a stiff all the time."

Minato narrowed his eyes. Now, he was annoyed. _Well, Junpei, if you're so good at wooing women, you do it too._ "Alright, Junpei, since you are such a Casanova, let's make this into a little competition. Whoever gets the most phone numbers at the end of the day, wins."

Junpei's eyes widened. "Whoa, that's a tall challenge there, boss. Sure you can handle it?"

Minato smirked challengingly. "Yeah, I'm sure. You in, Akihiko? Oh, wait, I forgot about your 'complex'. Never mind."

Akihiko scowled at the implied insult. "Oh, I'm in. And when I win, I'll be sure to tell the girls about your weak, pitiful attempt to pick up women you don't even know."

Minato grinned. Now if Junpei got caught, he wouldn't go down alone. _Gotta think of the team, right, Leader?_ "Well, when you lose, I'll be sure to tell your fan-club all about how 'Aki-senpai' was goo-goo eyed over women several years older than him."

Akihiko glared at him. "You wouldn't dare…"

Junpei laughed. "Alright, now we have some enthusiasm! I declare 'Operation: Babe Hunt' underway!"

The three of them rushed out the door and onto the beach. Junpei ran down one side of the beach, and Akihiko ran down the other. Minato smiled as he stopped running. The two idiots fell for it. He had no intention of joining this competition. However, tricking them like that got them out of his hair for a few hours. He yawned as he sat down underneath the umbrella and closed his eyes. Yes, a nap seemed in order.

* * *

Fuuka and Yukari had pulled ahead of her and Naoto by several lengths, almost as if by design, Mitsuru noticed. Naoto had been mostly silent throughout the walk, despite her insistence that she wanted to learn more about them.

She was a quietly introspective girl, Mitsuru noticed, but that was to be expected, what with her 'job' and all. She also appeared to have a quiet temper, as she told them that the reason that she had been late to breakfast was because she and Minato had gotten into an argument beforehand. Mitsuru had an idea what the argument was about, and the walk's purpose had become evident to her as Yukari and Fuuka continued to pull away from them, too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice the others trailing behind.

Once the others had pulled far enough away, Naoto stopped and turned to her, and asked, rather bluntly, "Are you involved with my cousin, Mitsuru-san?"

Mitsuru sighed, as the reason for the walk came out. "...Yes, very much so. However, before this conversation goes any further, how did you find out?"

Naoto shook her head. "I saw him coming out of your room this morning, Mitsuru-san. I was rather confused, as you might imagine."

Mitsuru blushed. "Ah. Well, if it makes you feel any better…"

Naoto smiled. "It's alright. He explained it to me, in addition to explaining what had happened to him, 2 years ago."

Naoto shook her head incredulously. "He never told me before now, did you know that?"

Mitsuru shook her head. _He didn't tell his cousin? Then… _

Naoto smiled sadly as Mitsuru's face lit up in realization. "He told me that you were the first person that he had _told_ the story to. Not me. Not grandfather. Not anyone else. You."

Naoto shook her head. "Do you understand what that means? How that makes me feel?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes in sadness. "Naoto-san, I…"

Naoto's voice cut her off. "It makes me glad."

Mitsuru opened her eyes, confusion evident. Naoto had a bright smile on her face. "It makes me so glad he met you. You see, he was a mess for _so_ long. He wouldn't tell me why he was so broken, and neither would Grandpa. I was confused for the longest time. One day, I decided to start looking through my cousin's files for a clue, anything to help me find out what had happened to him.

She shook her head. "He caught me, however, and the amount of anger that he showed that day was…terrifying. He made me swear to not look it up, that it was none of my business. It tore me apart, knowing that he was hurting so much, and I had no idea why, or how to help him."

Naoto looked up at her, an unintelligible look on her face. "Then he goes away on a secret mission, and doesn't call me for months. The next time I see him, he's walking out of the room of a girl that he's only known for a small amount of time."

Mitsuru shook her head in sympathy as Naoto continued. "It hurt. A lot. I thought that you had seduced him, took advantage of his pain to get…whatever it was you wanted out of him. I confronted him about it, but his anger was…different than I expected. He wasn't angry that I insulted him. He was angry that I insulted _you_."

She shook her head. "I couldn't believe it. I thought that he was so blind, that he was being manipulated by you, and he couldn't see it. He called me a child for insulting you, and I stormed out."

Naoto shook her head as she retold the events of this morning. "And then, a little while later, he comes to my door, and says, 'I'm ready to tell you what happened to me.' I was shocked. I opened the door for him immediately. And what he told me was horrible. So horrible in fact, that I started to question how he could even _feel_ anything without feeling that rage and sadness as well. And then when he starts talking about you, it all falls into place."

Naoto smiled. "You. It must have been you. You _healed_ my cousin, when even I couldn't. Something that you did, made him share a pain with you that he couldn't even tell to the girl he grew up with. For that, I thank you. So much."

Mitsuru felt tears pricking her eyes as the magnitude of the events that had taken place a month ago sunk in. _My god, the first time he ever shared that pain was with a stranger..._

Naoto continued as Mitsuru collected herself. "However, grateful as I may be, I still love my cousin, Mitsuru-san. He's the only one who has ever seen the 'real me' before. He means the world to me."

Naoto looked into Mitsuru's eyes, cold anger burning in them. "So understand me when I say this: If you hurt him? In any way? I will not stop until I have burned you, and your family's company, to the _ground_."

Mitsuru nodded in acknowledgement. She had no doubt that Naoto was deadly serious. "Understood, Naoto-san."

Naoto smiled and nodded. "Good, I'm glad you understand." She appeared to finally notice that Yukari and Fuuka had walked out of sight, and exclaimed in surprise. "Oh, shall we catch up to the others? They seem to have gotten ahead of us."

Mitsuru smiled at the young bluenette. "Of course."

The two women walked side by side toward their companions, the air considerably lighter than it had been a minute ago.

Naoto coughed, grabbing Mitsuru's attention. "Um, Mitsuru-san, what kind of books do you like to read?"

Mitsuru smiled. Naoto was attempting to learn more about her, probably for her cousin's sake. _Very well…_ "Well, I read a lot of different books for literature classes, but…"

* * *

Takeharu Kirijo was sweating, tensely waiting Kyohei Shirogane's move. His opponent was a clear master of his craft, and was nearly impossible to read. Victory had seemed so assured when he had started this game, but now? Now it seemed to be so far removed from the situation at hand, that he saw no clear path except defeat. Kyohei's hand moved to his rook. It slipped through a hole in Takeharu's defenses, and defeat was assured. "Checkmate."

Takeharu groaned. "No matter how many times we have played in the past few days, I have yet to win a game, Shirogane. You could give me a handicap, you know."

Kyohei smirked. "Well, I used to play this with my father. He was even better than me, and used to kick my ass every time. It's the only reason that I am this good. Anyway, think of this as karmic balance."

Takeharu made a move to retort, when his cell phone rang suddenly. He picked it up and answered as Kyohei reset the board. "Yes?"

It was Ikutsuki. He had spent most of his vacation at the lab that the Kirijo Group had hidden in the woods, looking for the reasons Takeharu's father had locked him out of the final stages of the experiment all those years ago.

It had always bothered Takeharu, but the recent events had forced him to think about it more. What had been so bad about the experiment that it had forced Eiichiro to destroy it, rather than risk its completion? Takeharu didn't know, and he hated being on the back foot, especially when his daughter was involved in cleaning up the mess.

Ikutsuki's voice seemed panicked. "Kirijo-san? We…have a problem."

Takeharu raised an eyebrow as he answered. "What kind of problem?"

Ikutsuki's voice came back a pitch higher than normal. "That equipment that we had here, the inoperable AS-W? It…escaped, sir."

Takeharu's eye widened in surprise. "Escaped? But you said that she was damaged beyond repair?"

Ikutsuki made a noise of acknowledgment. "Well, it appears I was wrong, sir. According to security footage, it has been fooling us for days now, leaving during the night, then coming back, to avoid suspicion. Now though? It just walked out in broad daylight."

Takeharu nodded. "Alright, what do we need to do? Is she dangerous?"

Ikutsuki chuckled. "Of course it's dangerous. The question is, what is its objective? For right now, I'd recommend that we wait and observe. She might have sensed something dangerous, and she might be the only warning we have."

Takeharu nodded again. "Very well. I'll warn the Team tonight, and we'll see if Miss Yamagishi can pick anything up as well."

Ikutsuki made a noise of affirmation. "Very well, sir. I'll let you get back to your vacation."

Takeharu smiled. "You know, Shuji, you could come and stay up here for a while. Meet up with your old mentor and all."

Ikutsuki chuckled. "You know that things between me and Shirogane-san weren't great before this whole debacle. I'd rather not bring up old wounds."

Takeharu nodded. "Alright, but the offer stands."

Ikutsuki laughed. "Ok, maybe I'll pop in tonight, see how the team is doing."

Takeharu nodded. "Ok. Thank you for the warning, Ikutsuki."

Ikutsuki made a noise of acknowledgement and hung up. Takeharu closed the phone and turned to the chessboard. Kyohei had made the first move. Takeharu smiled as he recognized the move. This time, this time for sure.

* * *

Junpei had not seen this coming when he had dragged his two friends out this afternoon. He had meant the 'romance training' thing as a joke, just using it as an excuse to get them to come to the beach with him without sounding like a whiny little kid. He hadn't meant to really do anything except ask them who was their type in their group, or who they might have had a crush on.

However, it had turned into a competition, and spiraled out of control from there. When he had been challenged, He thought, 'What the hell?' No one would find a dorky guy like him attractive, so he would just try once, for giggles.

Now, here he was, talking to a cute girl who actually seemed into him! She laughed at his silly jokes and bravado, and had called him cute several times. She flirted shamelessly, and twirled her hair around her finger, and made other indications that she liked him.

However, his own reactions to her were confusing. Her laugh didn't sound right. Her smile was unbearably crooked. Everything about her seemed wrong to him, and it confused the hell out of him. _What the hell is wrong with you, man? This really hot chick is totally digging you, and you think that you can just be picky about all these things? What is wrong with you? _

As he attempted to answer that question internally, a memory of Fuuka smiling at one of his jokes came to him. He felt the smile come across his face involuntarily, and he realized why this girl felt wrong.

She wasn't Fuuka. She was _nothing_ like Fuuka.

He interrupted the girl's soliloquy and asked, "Sorry to interrupt, but what do you think of romance manga?"

The girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, is this a trick question…?

He shook his head. "No? Well, I guess that…it's pretty immature and stupid. I mean, why read about romance, when you can go out and actually live it?"

Junpei smiled at her. "Thanks, that's all I needed to hear." He then turned and walked away from her without another word, causing her to splutter and flail in confusion. He knew he could never be in a relationship with a girl like her. She just liked what she saw and what she heard from him, and not a thing of what he said to her was true. That person wasn't him. That person was someone that he made up, to deal with the pain of being different.

Fuuka, on the other hand, had accepted who he really was, eccentricities and all. She liked the same things as him, and she seemed to like him, despite his strange behavior.

He smiled as he walked back toward the house. He didn't need to _look_ for romance. He had already fallen for someone.

* * *

Minato was sleeping soundly until he heard the sound of footsteps in the sand approaching him. He opened his eyes and sat up. A tall blonde girl with big blue eyes, wearing a light blue sundress, was standing there. She stared at him from several feet away, eyes locked to him. He got up, standing in a defensive stance. Something about this girl bothered him. "Can I help you, miss?"

She didn't respond. He chuckled humorlessly, attempting to elicit a response. "Listen, I don't know what's up with you, but it's kind of rude to stare at people you don't know."

The girl finally responded. "You are Minato Arisato. Age 17, Son of Saburo Arisato, and Akane Shirogane. I know more about you than you think, Minato-kun."

He frowned. The girl had a robotic tone to her voice, and she knew an awful lot about him. This was not something he particularly enjoyed. He decided intimidation was in order, to regain the upper hand. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but if you are trying to scare me, you are gonna have to try harder than that."

The girl's eyes softened, and a small smile appeared on her face. Minato felt his anger dissipate at the smile. "I have finally found you. I am…glad." Minato's eyes widened at her words.

She suddenly turned looked over her shoulder, noticing something. "Evasive maneuvers initiated. I will contact you later, Minato-kun, when I have evaded my pursuers."

The girl then turned and ran down the opposite side of the beach from where she had come. Minato watched her leave, then shook his head in confusion. What the hell was that? How had she known his name, and all the other stuff too? What was her goal? He shook his head again. Obviously, the beach was not a good place to take a nap. Too many weirdos.

He turned around and headed back inside, determined to have at least a few minutes of peace and quiet during his 'vacation'.

* * *

Akihiko kept running down the beach, looking for another girl to talk to. The last one had shot him down, saying that his obsession with training was 'creepy'. He sighed. This was why he didn't like talking to girls. They expected guys to be a certain way, with a certain air of confidence and bravado. Akihiko only had confidence about two things: training, and fighting Shadows. No one else apart from his team even understood that. Still, he hated to lose, which is why he was continuing to suffer through this tortuous exercise.

This particular stretch of beach he was on seemed deserted, however. He slowed his pace, attempting to keep some energy in reserve for when he saw another girl to talk to. It wouldn't do to be out of breath and panting when he walked up to one.

However, a blur passed by him, startling him. A girl in a sports bra and jogging shorts was running past him, and at quite a clip too. He smirked as he watched her go. He wished he could train like that right now, instead of pushing himself to do something he hated. He watched her run for a second, then stopped to catch his breath. He looked down at the ground, as he contemplated where to go next.

"Hey, you giving up 'cause I'm a girl?"

The voice startled him, and his gaze shot up. The girl had run back, and she had a challenging smile on her face. She had short brown hair, tied up in a ponytail, and a cute face. She huffed as she waited for him to answer.

He looked around him, wondering if she was talking to someone else, but there was no one. He nervously answered her. "Are you talking to me?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I saw you running down here while I was training. You were moving at a pretty good clip too. I figured, 'Hey, why don't I test my speed against that guy! It'll be good practice for Nationals!' Then when I passed you, you stopped. So, you giving up cause I'm a girl, or what?"

Akihiko was taken aback. She had wanted to test her speed against his? He shook his head in response to her question. "Sorry, no. I was just contemplating where other girls might be. This stretch of beach is pretty deserted."

The girl gave him a strange look. "Why are you looking for girls? Are you some kind of pervert or something?"

He shook his head, a blush appearing on his cheeks. "Uh…no, it's part of a bet that I made with my dorm mates. Whoever comes up with the most phone numbers from girls, by the end of the day, is the winner." He smiled. "And I hate to lose."

The girl nodded in realization. "Ah, ok. I get it….So how many do you have?"

He shook his head sadly. "None. I hate talking to girls normally. The ones here don't do anything that I like or know about, so even simple conversation is hard, not to mention charming their phone numbers out of them."

She nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Most boys think that I'm weird for wanting to train so much. Makes dating kinda hard. But I keep telling them, 'Nationals aren't gonna win themselves!'"

He laughed. "Yeah! Even my dorm mates think that I'm weird sometimes, cause I train so much. I just wanna be able to win, no matter who I go up against."

The girl laughed, then stuck her hand out. "I get that. Ayumi Matsui. Track and Field."

Akihiko smiled and shook it. "Akihiko Sanada. Boxing."

Ayumi tilted her head towards the direction they had been running. "Wanna keep going? If you can reach the town before me, I'll give you my phone number. You know, for your friend's competition."

He smirked. She was speaking his language. "Alright, you're on."

She quickly took off running, and he sprinted to catch her. A small smile appeared on his face as he raced to catch up to her. _This_ was more like it.

* * *

Mitsuru and Naoto had caught up to the other girls fairly quickly, and they had made it to the tree a few minutes after that. Naoto had resumed her silence after some small talk, having accomplished her objective that day, but Mitsuru felt sorry for the girl. She appeared to be even more introspective that Minato had said, appearing to prefer watching the conversations than being a participant.

Mitsuru smiled as a plan to break Naoto out of her shell came to her mind. "Naoto-san, you've lived with Minato-san for quite a while. What was he like growing up?"

Naoto's eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled. "He was a pain in the ass, if you'll excuse my terminology. We didn't like each other at first."

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "Why is that?"

Naoto smirked. "Because I could see through all his lies and deception. It made it really hard for him to get his way sometimes."

Yukari raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The girls turned to walk back to the house while Naoto continued her story. "Well, for example, when I first came to Grandpa's house, he tried to tell me that he had an invisible bird that could slice my head off if I pissed him off. So, what do you think I did?"

Mitsuru smiled. "Asked him to prove it."

Naoto smiled in response. "Yes. I repeated the question so many times that he locked himself in his room to stop me."

Yukari laughed. "So much for 'An invisible bird that can cut people's heads off'."

Naoto smirked. "Indeed."

Fuuka tilted her head. "What about some of the cases he worked on? Any of them stand out to you as memorable or funny?"

Naoto thought about it, then smiled. "There was the time when he was forced to be a punk for a year."

Fuuka and Mitsuru gasped. Yukari snickered. "No way?! Really?!"

Naoto smiled. "I have a picture. I'll have to bring it next time."

Yukari laughed heartily. "Oh, this is too good. Gimme more, I need more dirt on him. What else you got?"

The girls all started to chat amiably about embarrassing stories from Minato's past as they made their way back to the house. Mitsuru smiled inwardly as the young blue haired girl slowly started to open to the 3 older girls. She was brilliant, but lonely, it seemed. She obviously had never been able to connect with people her own age, due to her profession. _Well, let's see what we can do about that, hmm?_

* * *

Akihiko grasped the water bottle that Ayumi had handed to him and poured it into his mouth, drinking it greedily. He was strong, sure, but he was a boxer, not a runner. Ayumi had kicked his ass, beating him to town by a few minutes. She had smiled heartily as he stumbled towards her, then collapsed on the sand. "Well, guess you aren't getting that phone number, eh?"

Akihiko looked at her in confusion, then remembered why he had been chasing after her. _The competition… _He nodded. "Yeah, I guess not. Oh, well, it wasn't like I was gonna win in the first place. That run was a lot more fun, anyway."

Ayumi smiled. "I'm glad you liked it…getting your ass kicked by a girl and all."

Akihiko smirked challengingly. "Well, I'd like to see you go toe to toe with me in the ring. We'll see who's ass gets kicked then."

Ayumi laughed. "Alright, you're on. How hard can it be? Pick a time and place."

Akihiko smiled. "Well, unfortunately, I'm only gonna be here for a couple more days, so I'll have to take a rain check. I might come back next year though."

Ayumi shook her head. "That's a bit too long to wait. Well, where are you from? That way, I can look you up. You know, if I'm in the area?"

Akihiko raised an eyebrow. "I'm from Iwatodai. Why?"

Ayumi's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, the Nationals are being held in Iwatodai in a few weeks!"

Akihiko smiled. "Well, guess that means I'll see you in a few weeks, right?"

Ayumi nodded. "Alright, Akihiko. I'll give you a call when I get there, alright? Then we can have our bout, and settle this, once and for all."

Akihiko nodded, then tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, how will you call me? You don't have my number."

Ayumi took his phone out of his shirt pocket, entered in a few digits, then took her phone and did the same. "There. Now I can call you."

Akihiko smiled. "I thought that I wasn't getting your phone number."

Ayumi blushed a bit as she stuck her tongue out. "You weren't, originally. I'm just giving you a consolation prize, you know, for spending your day with me instead of winning that competition. Wouldn't want you to go back and get _too_ embarrassed, right?"

Akihiko looked at the sun. It was setting, and he was a couple of miles away from the estate. He nodded in recognition. "Right, I should probably get back. Anyway, it was fun, Ayumi."

Ayumi nodded. "Yeah, it was, Akihiko. I'll see you in a few weeks."

Akihiko nodded as he started his run back towards the estate. "In a few weeks!" He waved back as he jogged down the beach towards the estate. He smiled brightly. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad afternoon, after all.

* * *

Junpei sat down in the lounge/theater room they had the meeting in last night. Now that he realized why he had been feeling so antsy all week, he was relieved. A weird mix of anticipation, excitement, and fear rolled around in his belly, and his mind was filled with one image: The face of a certain blue haired girl, smiling at him. He sighed in derision. Fuuka was a brilliant girl, and he was a C+ slacker kid who knew one thing well: Fighting. She would never fall for a guy like him.

He sighed again. A voice sounded out, startling him out of his thoughts. "So, the operation went that bad, huh?"

He looked up at Minato and shook his head. "No, I just…gave up."

Minato raised an eyebrow concernedly. Junpei never just gave up. Even when it came to something like studying, he still fought for a time. Something was wrong. "Junpei, are you feeling alright?"

Junpei looked at his friend. Minato had helped him sort out his feelings before. Maybe he could do it again. "Hey, do you remember when I told you about my dad? I have something else I wanna run by you, if that's ok."

Minato smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, ok. Same rules? No laughing, no matter what, that kind of thing?"

Junpei nodded. "Yeah."

Minato smiled and gestured for him to start. Junpei exhaled. "Well, you see…I think I've fallen for someone in our group."

Minato's eyes widened. "Let me guess…Fuuka?"

Junpei nodded, unsurprised that Minato had figured it out so quickly. His friend was pretty perceptive normally. "I was on the beach, talking to a girl that actually liked my stupid jokes and my stupid bravado. It was cool, but…everything seemed…off about her. Like…"

Minato smiled. "Like she wasn't good enough."

Junpei nodded. "Yeah. I mean, that sounds horrible, and, I mean, she wasn't _that_ bad, but…Man, this is harder than I thought."

Minato nodded. "It's alright, take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

Junpei sighed. "So I'm sitting there, trying to figure out why I keep thinking these bad things about this hot girl in front of me, when all of a sudden…"

Minato smiled, recognizing the symptoms. "She popped into your head, and it all made sense."

Junpei nodded, tilting his head questioningly. "Yeah…how did you know?"

Minato smiled coyly, ignoring the question. "So, why Fuuka? What about her do you like?"

Junpei blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "W-well, she's really cute. She's super smart, too. She's getting more and more confident by the day, and it's really cool to see. She's best friends with the girl that used to bully her: That shows how strong she is. She understands my frustration with my dad, cause her parents are the same, more or less. She can kick my ass at video games any day, which is pretty cool. She likes…romance manga, same as me. She laughs at my jokes, and she's really nice to…everyone."

Junpei looked at him with a small smile on his face. "She's amazing."

Minato smiled. "Well, that's quite a list, man."

Junpei nodded, then put his face in his hands as he came to his problem. "Yeah, but I have no chance with her. She's so out of my league, it isn't funny. She's really smart, and I'm barely passing any of my classes…"

Minato frowned in annoyance, cutting him off. "Hey, what did I say to you, a month ago? I said that you were smart, deceptively so. So what if you have trouble studying? Some people have problems talking to people, like Akihiko does. Intelligence isn't measured by tests and studying. It's application of knowledge, and let me say, that I would take you in a fight over a grade-A student any day of the week."

Junpei stared at his friend in shock. "You…really mean that?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah."

Junpei shook his head disbelievingly. "Still, what would she want with a loser like me…?"

Minato exhaled in exasperation. Junpei was being stubborn, and it was pissing him off. He didn't want to call him stupid, for fear it would exacerbate the issue. _How to tell him he's being dense without saying that…Hmm…_

He smiled as he thought of a solution. It was risky, but it would prove his point wonderfully. "Hey, I'm gonna let you in on a secret, ok, Junpei? The thing is, you cannot tell a soul once I do. Not Yukari, not Fuuka, not _anyone_. Got it?"

Junpei raised an eyebrow in confusion, then nodded. "Yeah, ok."

Minato inhaled, then exhaled nervously. Lots of people had found out already, so what was one more? He sighed. "Well…Mitsuru…and I…have been going out for the past few weeks."

Junpei's eyes widened in surprise, then a grin broke out on his face. "Congrats, man!" A look of confusion came over his face again. "Uh…But what does that have to do with me?"

Minato shook his head, a small smirk on his lips. "Come on, Junpei. Think about it. Do you think that _I_ thought for a _second_ that Mitsuru was in _my_ league when I first fell for her?"

Junpei thought about it, then shook his head. Minato nodded in agreement. "Hell, no. She's gorgeous, and smart, and rich. What do _I_ have to offer to a girl like that? My rapier wit?"

Minato scoffed as he continued. "I'm not the best guy there is out there, not by a long shot. There's some bad shit in my past that I really don't like to talk about. I'm damaged goods, man. Then there's my little meltdown a couple of months ago. I mean, I said some really rude things to her after the Train op. Things that should have made her wary about _trusting_ me, let alone liking me. So what chance do you think I had, knowing all that?"

Junpei shrugged. "Not much." Minato smiled as he shook his head. "My thoughts exactly. But you know what I found out?"

Junpei shook his head. Minato smiled. "It didn't matter. She likes me for who I _am_. Not for what I look like, or how smart I am, or any of that superficial crap. She likes me, for _me_, warts and all."

Junpei was taken aback, as Minato continued. "Anyway, from what you've told me, Fuuka has already done the hard part and accepted the parts of you that even _you_ don't like. So here's the question, Junpei: What do you have to be afraid of, knowing that?"

Junpei shook his head petulantly. "She could say 'no'…"

Minato smiled wryly. "She could…But she could also say 'yes.'"

Junpei thought his words over. He had a point. He had to try, at least. He looked at Minato and smiled. "…Alright. After we get back, I'm gonna ask her out on a date."

Minato shook his head, smirking. "Don't _tell_ me what you are going to do. _Do_ it."

Junpei smirked. "Ok. I promise. Thanks for the help, boss."

Minato smiled brightly. "Hey, it's what I'm here for, man."

Junpei got up to head for his room, then looked at Minato. "Oh, and boss? Congratulations, again. On you and Mitsuru-senpai, I mean."

Minato nodded, then glared at him. "I don't have to explain what I'll do if you tell anyone, do I?"

Junpei shook his head, a serious expression on his face. "No. I understand what it means to tell me that, and I promise I won't betray your trust. Either of you."

Minato smiled. "Thanks, Junpei. I really appreciate it…Good luck."

Junpei smiled. "Thanks, boss."

Minato watched Junpei leave, his heart soaring with the feeling of lightness you only get from helping a friend in need. Junpei had a good heart, but had a hard time listening to it sometimes. Minato just hoped it would all work out for the two of them.

* * *

Minato walked out into the hall just in time to see the girls get back from their walk. Naoto had a large smile on her face, and the rest of the girls were laughing. He felt a shiver go down his spine. Something felt off here. As he walked forward to greet them, the girls all looked at him with bizarre expressions. Naoto smiled brightly. "Hello, Minato. How was your day?"

Minato smiled. "Pretty good. Spent most of it relaxing on the beach, then I came back and took a nap. What about you ladies? Have a good time on your walk?"

Yukari snickered as she attempted to answer. "Y-yes we did, Captain Mohawk."

Minato's eyes widened as he recognized the nickname. He stared at Naoto in horror. "You didn't…"

Naoto shrugged. "Think of this as my 'plan B', cousin."

Minato groaned in horror. "How much did you tell them?"

Naoto smirked. "Oh, not much. Just everything from 4 years ago."

Minato hung his head as he realized what that meant. "Great, cause I love being reminded of that time of my life. It wasn't traumatizing at all."

Mitsuru smiled in amusement. "Oh, I don't know, I think that you would look great in a leather jacket and biker leathers."

Minato shook his head, a horrified look on his face. "Nope. I'm done. That's it. I don't have to take this crap." He turned towards the door to the guest wing and walked away without a word, leaving the girls giggling at his embarrassment. _Some days, it doesn't pay to get out of bed._

* * *

Dinner was a much more hectic and joyous affair than breakfast had been. Naoto appeared to be enjoying herself, finally. She had opened up to the other girls, and seemed to be happier after Minato's revelation, joking and conversing with little effort. Junpei had a stupid grin on his face throughout dinner, and actually ate at a decent pace for once. Akihiko had shown up late, apologizing for having run off. He had apparently run to the nearby town and back, having lost track of time. Takeharu and Kyohei were deep in the middle of a mental chess match, continuing their bout from earlier this evening. Fuuka and Yukari had ribbed Minato relentlessly throughout dinner, re-telling the tales that Naoto had shared during their trek with fervor and enthusiasm. Minato had spent most of the meal defending himself from the girl's relentless onslaught, but had eventually given up. He finished early and went out on the patio to view the night sky, looking for asylum from the constant teasing.

Minato turned around as the door opened behind him. It was Mitsuru. He sighed. "Look, if you are here to poke fun at me, you can head right back in. I've had enough of that for one evening."

Mitsuru smiled sympathetically at him. "Did you know that I used to be afraid of swimming in the ocean until very recently?"

He shook his head, smirking. "No. How recently are we talking?"

She shrugged playfully. "Between a year and three months. I'm not telling."

Minato smiled, his bad mood disappearing. Mitsuru bumped her shoulder against his. "See, we all have embarrassing things in our past."

He chuckled. "Yeah, but normal people don't end up being forced to be a punk for a year."

She laughed. "No, they _choose_ to. Which one is worse?"

He nodded. "Alright, good point."

She smiled, then frowned slightly. "I'm sorry for all this. I was just trying to get Naoto-san to open up a little. It got out of control rather quickly though."

He shook his head. "Eh, it's alright. I can handle it. It's good to see her open up a bit, though. I was really afraid she wouldn't like you…guys."

She shook her head at his feigned subtlety. "It's alright. She told me what happened this morning. We…have an understanding now."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god. I really didn't want to pick sides in that fight."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Well, it was easy to come to an agreement. We have something in common, after all."

Minato smirked. "Oh? What's that?"

Mitsuru linked her arm with his, then rested her head on his shoulder. "We both care about a blue haired idiot."

Minato laughed. "Is that your idea of sweet talk? It needs some work."

She pulled away and looked at him, amused. "Oh, really? Well, care to give me a better example?"

He smiled as he stared back into her eyes. He leaned in close. "Well, I think that talk is cheap sometimes." He closed the distance, kissing her deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Time seemed to stop as they became entranced with the taste and feel of their partner's lips on theirs. The affection and care that emitted from the both of them wrapped around them in a warm cocoon, insulating them from the cool air blowing off the ocean. Nothing could ruin this moment.

"Oh. My. God."

Yukari's voice snapped the two lovers out of their embrace and they quickly stepped away from each other, as if that would reverse time. The two of them blushed heavily as they looked at Yukari in horror. Yukari had a huge grin on her face at what she had stumbled on. "Um…how long has _that_ been going on?"

Minato scowled. "What do you want, Yukari?"

Yukari shook her head. "Uh uh. I want answers. How long has _that_ been happening for?"

Mitsuru tilted her head in discomfort as she answered. "…a few weeks."

Yukari laughed. "Well, congratulations. I'm happy for you both. I'm sorry for ruining that moment, but it just kind of…slipped out. Anyways, don't worry, my lips are sealed."

Minato shook his head. "Thanks, it saves me from having to threaten you. Anyway, now that incredibly awkward conversation is over, what do you need, Yukari?"

Yukari's grin disappeared. "Takeharu-san and Ikutsuki-san need to talk to us. They say it's important."

Minato and Mitsuru looked at each other worriedly, then followed Yukari to the lounge. The rest of the team was already there, with Evokers on their hips. When the 3 missing members entered the room and took their spots on the couches, Takeharu started. "I'm sorry for bothering you all during your well-earned vacation, but we have a situation. Ikutsuki?"

Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I haven't seen much of you all during the vacation, all. Either way, we have a problem. A piece of tech that was commissioned right before the Incident 10 years ago, has gone missing."

Fuuka grimaced. "What kind of tech is it?"

Ikutsuki smirked. "It's an AS-W. An Anti-Shadow Weapon. A weapon designed specifically to contain and eliminate Shadows."

Minato shook his head. "How did it go missing, exactly? Did someone steal it?"

Ikutsuki shook his head. "No, it got up and left on its own, this morning. This is worrying, because the unit in question was damaged beyond repair, or so I thought. Apparently, it's been awake for a while now, and has been actively avoiding detection."

Minato shook his head in confusion. "How, exactly, can it be awake? What kind of platform or weapon are we talking about, here?"

Ikutsuki looked at Takeharu for guidance, and the senior Kirijo nodded. Ikutsuki sighed. "The weapon is actually a robot with a Persona, and therefore, a personality. A 'mechanical maiden', to be more precise. Her designation is Aigis, and she is the last of her kind."

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "I thought that those kinds of machines were just rumors?"

Ikutsuki shook his head. "No, Kouetsu actually built quite a few. She's armed to the teeth, and can fight the Shadows just as effectively as you all. If we can recapture her, she might be a valuable asset to SEES."

Minato nodded. "Alright, I can see why she would be a priority for us. Do you have a description of what it…or rather, she, looks like?"

Ikutsuki nodded and hit a button on a remote. A picture of Aigis appeared on the screen, and Minato's eyes widened. "Of all the dumb luck…"

Mitsuru looked at him. "Something wrong, Minato-san?"

Minato nodded. "I saw her earlier today."

Ikutsuki's eyes widened in surprise. "When? Where?"

Minato shook his head. "This afternoon, on the beach. I was taking a nap and, she walked up to me and just stared at me. I thought she was just a creepy girl at first, but now her behavior makes a little more sense."

Ikutsuki frowned. "What behavior?"

Minato frowned as he remembered the strange conversation he had with Aigis. "She mentioned something about 'finding' me, after spouting off a bunch of personal info about me. Then she got spooked and ran off."

Ikutsuki nodded. "Hmm…Interesting. Why would she be so interested in Minato-kun…?"

Yukari smiled. "I dunno. Kinda weird, isn't it?"

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes at Yukari, and the younger girl closed her mouth quickly. Luckily, Ikutsuki missed the implication. "Yes, indeed. Well, anyway, I need you all to prepare for combat. Whether Aigis is malfunctioning, or if she has detected a real threat, remains to be seen. Either way, combat is likely. I need Fuuka to stay up during the Dark Hour, and a few volunteers to stay on watch."

Akihiko and Junpei both raised their hands. "I'll stay." "I'm always down to stay up past bedtime!"

Ikutsuki nodded. "Thank you both. The rest of you, have a good night."

Yukari, Mitsuru, and Minato nodded and filed out of the lounge to their rooms. Minato bid both girls a good night, then stepped into his room. His head swam in confusion as he thought about his encounter with the Anti-Shadow Weapon, Aigis. She had known an awful lot about him, and the why of it continued to evade him. Why was she interested in him? Why had she abandoned all pretense of hiding today, just to see him? He shook his head. He could probably make more sense of this in the morning. The day's events had been tiring, and he could barely keep his eyes open. He changed into his bed clothes, and fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the pillow.

* * *

Minato woke up suddenly. He bolted up, a sense of danger crawling down his spine. He took in his surroundings quickly: It was the Dark Hour. His window was open, even though he hadn't left it open. And there was a liquid sounding movement above him.

Minato quickly dove out of his bed as the blade stabbed through the bed where his body had been a second ago. He rolled around when he hit the floor to see a Shadow on his ceiling. It was a fairly basic one, but Minato had no weapon, and didn't have time to summon his Persona.

The Shadow threw another blade right at his head as he stared at it, screeching at losing the element of surprise. He moved his head out of the way, then quickly rolled along the floor, dodging the flurry of blades that followed the first. He jumped up, and prepared to summon his Persona. However, he never got the chance.

The Anti-Shadow Weapon, Aigis, dove through his open window. She raised her hands, as a cocking sound was made. "You will not have him, monster!"

Aigis' fingers erupted in fire, the machineguns hidden inside her arms tearing the Shadow apart. She unloaded on it for a few seconds, the noise deafening any other sound in the room. Then, just as suddenly, the noise stopped. The Shadow twitched for a second, then fell apart, splattering his bed in shadowy gore. Minato stared incredulously. She had saved him.

Aigis' fingers clacked as her machineguns retracted. She smiled brightly at him, and asked, "Are you alright, Minato-kun?"

.

.

.

_**(Dat cliffhanger though. Well, this ended up being a hell of a lot longer than it was in my head. I thought it would be a fairly short chapter when I started, and then it just kept going, and going, and going…Phew. Anyways, I hope you like the way that I have been developing the characters so far. I hope you like Naoto in particular. She's been particularly hard to write. Anyways, there was a lot of development in this chapter, huh? I hope you liked this chapter. Next time, we'll learn more about the relationship between Ikutsuki and Kyohei, and we'll have one last day of silliness with Aigis before we go back to Iwatodai. As always, please review or PM me if you have questions, concerns, criticisms, or if you just like the story! I'll appreciate it all! Hope to see you next chapter! –Dr. Ninja )**_


	13. July 22nd

Minato blinked at the question Aigis had asked him. He was still in shock over what had transpired in the past 10 seconds. A Shadow had attempted to kill him in his sleep, which was strange enough, since they weren't supposed to be able to come this far from Tartarus. Then, something stranger happened: A Shadow killing robot had done an action dive into his room through an open window, shot the Shadow to death with finger-machineguns, then smiled at him afterwards, acting like nothing meaningful had happened. _What is this, a freaking action movie or something?_

Aigis blinked in confusion at his dazed stare, and asked again. "Minato-kun? Are you alright?"

Minato shook himself out of his daze, and looked at her. Despite her actions, Minato felt uncomfortable around her. Her overly familiar tone had sent a shiver down his spine, and he didn't know why. He frowned. "Ok, what the hell, lady? Why are you so concerned about someone you've never met before?"

Aigis' face became neutral as her concern melted away. "Good. Primary target is secure. Standing by."

He scowled. "Yeah, it's dead, but that still isn't an answer!"

At that moment, Junpei and Akihiko burst in, Evokers at the ready. "Boss! Watch out, there's a…Shadow…" They stopped and gaped at the mess that had been left by the Shadow's messy expiration.

Minato turned to look at his two comrades' less-than-spectacular entrance, a sardonic look on his face. "Little late, don't you think?"

Despite Minato's flippant tone, the two of them continued to stand at the ready. Aigis' presence obviously still had them on edge. Minato shook his head. Despite Aigis' concerning over-familiarity with him, he knew she didn't pose any real danger. "It's alright, guys. Aigis is the one who killed the Shadow. If she wanted to hurt us, she would've already."

The two of them visibly relaxed at their leader's words, and they holstered their Evokers. Junpei looked towards the mess that used to be the Shadow and smirked. "Hmm…guess this answers whether or not she's malfunctioning, huh? Looks like she still hunts Shadows pretty well."

Akihiko nodded. "My question is, how did she know it was coming here?"

Aigis spoke up. "I did not. I merely reacted when my primary target was in jeopardy."

That made Minato look at her in confusion. "Wait a minute: In jeopardy? Aigis, what _is _your primary target?"

Aigis turned to look at him, and her face softened. "You, Minato-kun, are my primary target. Mission parameters state that protection and safekeeping are primary goals for target subject. Secondary objectives are to observe and care for the emotional stability and physical health of target subject. My Tertiary objectives are Shadow elimination and containment, however."

Minato gaped in shock. "What? How the hell did _that_ become your primary objective?"

Aigis shook her head. "I do not know. Records indicate that I was dormant for 10 years due to combat damage. Upon reactivation, my mission parameters were already as such. So, in accordance with my objectives, I have been actively observing you for approximately 4 days, as well as avoiding factors that could lead to mission failure, such as deactivation or capture."

Junpei looked between the two of them. "Well, that explains why she was sneaking out. She was watching over you." He shook his head in confusion. "Still, this is pretty weird…"

Yukari's voice sounded from the open door behind them. "Wow, what happened in here?" She and Mitsuru walked into the room, Evokers un-holstered. They were disheveled in appearance, obviously caught off guard by the gunfire, but awake and alert.

Yukari looked around the room in amazement. "Wow, I can't imagine how much it's gonna cost to repair this room. Sorry, Senpai."

Mitsuru didn't respond. Instead, she walked straight over to Minato and started looking him over for injuries. Her tone was worried as she asked, "Are you alright?"

Minato nodded, smiling at her concern. "I'm fine. Confused, but fine. Aigis here saved me."

Mitsuru pulled away from him, turned to the blonde robot, and nodded at her. "Thank you for helping him."

Aigis smiled. "Of course. He is my primary target." Mitsuru raised an eyebrow and looked at Minato in equal parts concern and confusion.

He shrugged exasperatedly. "Like I said, confused. She states that her primary objective is my wellbeing, first and foremost." He rubbed the back of his head as he mumbled, "…which isn't creepy at all…"

Mitsuru shook her head in confusion. "How is that possible?"

Aigis shook her head. "I do not know. When I reactivated several days ago, my objectives were already programmed as such."

Mitsuru nodded. "Well, strange as this is, Ikutsuki-san and my father will want to know about this. Aigis, will you come with us?"

Aigis did not move at the request. Instead, she looked at Minato, her expression indicating that she was looking to him for guidance. He stared back, his confusion increasing. "Why do you want _my_ opinion?"

Aigis tilted her head. "I do not have personal information on these people, Minato-kun. To do as she asks, with this amount of limited information, could be potentially hazardous to my operational status. However, you seem to have first-hand knowledge of their character, so you are the obvious source to turn to. Can I…trust them?"

Minato shook his head. Her logic didn't make sense. "But how can you even trust _me_, Aigis? You don't even know me."

Aigis shook her head, seemingly confused by her own response. "I...I just…do."

Minato sighed in frustration. Weird things kept happening on this trip, and this was one weird thing he hadn't seen coming at all. He hated not knowing about this kind of stuff beforehand, and he really hated not having any answers. _Well, maybe Ikutsuki-san knows something about this. But first, get the malfunctioning robot girl to come with us…_ "Alright, Aigis, in that case, you can trust these guys. They're all Persona-users, like me. They won't hurt you intentionally, unless you give them reason."

Aigis nodded. "Very well, Minato-kun." She looked at Mitsuru and nodded her acknowledgement. "I will comply."

Mitsuru nodded and lead the way out. Aigis took up a position behind Minato as they all followed her lead. He shook his head as his brain caught up to current events. Life seemed really simple a couple of months ago. Now, he had a killer robot wanting to be his bodyguard and nursemaid, all at once, for reasons best described as 'non-existent'.

He sighed. He owed Aigis his life, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was...wrong. He just hoped he was wrong about her.

* * *

As they entered the main hall, Ikutsuki and Fuuka both ran out from the lounge. Ikutsuki sighed in relief at the sight of the SEES members, no injuries evident. "Thank god, you are all alright." He then noticed Aigis standing slightly behind Minato, and smiled. "Ah, I imagine that we have you to thank for that Shadow's termination, Aigis?"

Aigis nodded. "Yes, sir. Primary target secured."

Minato sighed in exasperation. "Aigis, if you are going to talk about me like that, then please use my name."

Aigis nodded apologetically. "Yes, Minato-kun. Logging your preference."

He shuddered at the cold, robotic indifference mixed with the strange, warm familiarity. "Still creepy…"

Ikutsuki looked at Minato in confusion. Minato shook his head in exasperation. "Long story short, Aigis thinks that playing babysitter to me is her 'primary objective'. I was hoping you could explain why."

Ikutsuki shook his head in shock. "No, I have no idea. Aigis was, for all intents and purposes, disabled permanently. I thought that she would never wake up, let alone be as stable as she is. Why she's woken up now, and why her objective is what it is, are as much a mystery to me as they are to you." He looked away in thought. "Perhaps a sensor malfunction, or…maybe the cortex rewiring we did…Hmm…"

Minato sighed. _More questions…_ "Great. Like I didn't have enough things to worry about… Well, shall we inform Takeharu-san that we've recovered Aigis?"

Ikutsuki nodded, and turned to lead the way into the lounge. Takeharu stood up and inspected the group as they all walked in to the room. He took in Minato's disheveled appearance and frowned. "Are you alright?"

Minato nodded to the robot behind him. "Thanks to Aigis, here, yeah. I'm good."

Takeharu nodded. "Good. I'm glad." He then turned to Aigis. "Thank you, Aigis, for protecting him."

Aigis smiled. "Of course. His safety is my primary objective."

Minato sighed as Takeharu glanced at him confusedly. "That's the strange thing about this: She has it in her head that I am her primary objective. She doesn't know why, and neither does Ikutsuki-san."

Takeharu sighed. "Well, there isn't much that I could tell you. Ikutsuki knows more about her than I do."

Ikutsuki nodded. "We'll bring Aigis back with us. That way, we can continue to study her behavior, as well as having a potential asset for the exploration of Tartarus."

Minato looked at Ikutsuki incredulously. _He has to be crazy..._ "What? She's potentially malfunctioning, and you want us to bring her into the field _with_ us?!"

Ikutsuki smiled. "So far, the only thing that appears to be a malfunction is her fascination with you, Minato-kun, which could even be an asset in the field. Better her than you. Other than that, she has proven tonight that she is still a capable fighter. We need all the help we can get if we are going to get rid of the Dark Hour."

Minato shook his head. "Still, I…" He paused, then hung his head in defeat. He couldn't honestly think of any good reason why she shouldn't come with them. His own strong reaction to her presence surprised him however. He didn't know why she made him so uncomfortable, but she did, and that worried him. The last time he had emotions that weren't under his control, he had a meltdown and shut himself away for a few months.

Takeharu looked at Minato in concern. "Is there a particular reason she shouldn't come with you?"

Minato looked up and shook his head. This feeling that was driving him seemed unnatural, and that made him wary. "No, sir. I just feel…concerned, is all. This is all very odd, and I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

Takeharu nodded. "Very well. I understand your concerns about her behavior. However, she is a potential asset, and we cannot afford to waste this opportunity. Therefore, she will be remain under observation in the lab, under guard, until you all head home. Afterward, I will transfer her to the Kirijo building in Iwatodai, where she will be studied intently. After tests prove that she is not dangerous to you, and that she is ready, she will be released _only_ for operations. That way, we can make sure that she remains an asset, instead of becoming a liability."

Yukari scowled. "She saves Minato's life and you want to lock her up like a lab rat?"

Takeharu shook his head. "It is the only way that I can think of that will ensure your safety. There is simply too much we don't know about her at this point."

Mitsuru and Akihiko nodded their agreement, but Fuuka and Yukari shook their heads, disagreeing intently. Fuuka spoke up. "I don't think that she will hurt us. She could have done that already, if she wanted. Besides, she saved one of our group tonight, and we should be grateful. Without her, Minato-senpai could have died."

Junpei shook his head. "I dunno about this…I can see why she might be a danger, but… Locking her up seems cruel...I dunno."

Takeharu's tone rose sharply. "Look, I am not going to put her out there with you all if she is a potential danger."

Aigis' face twisted at the raised tone, seemingly upset. She stood up suddenly, cutting off further argument. "Stop, please. I will comply with your orders, to better facilitate unit cohesion. If this is what you wish for me, then so be it."

Minato turned to look at her, her tone surprising him. She almost seemed…sad, despite the robotic tone of her voice. His curiosity overtook his discomfort, and he looked at her closer. Her human-like expressions and emotions seemed to almost _combat_ with her robotic nature. Judging by her reaction, she seemed to _want_ freedom, like a person would. However, she also appeared concerned about splitting the team, which explained why she was willing to be locked up. That confused him. A simple robot wouldn't care either way, but Aigis did. Aigis was special, it seemed.

He suddenly felt disgust at his actions thus far. She had saved his life tonight, and what had he done in return? He had treated her with suspicion and distrust, going so far as to have her locked up like a piece of equipment or weaponry, despite the fact that she was a living being, with emotions and feelings. So what if she was concerned with keeping him alive? Did he need to be so concerned about that? Without her, he could easily have died tonight. He needed to show her a little trust.

He shook his head as he came to a decision."…Actually, that seems unnecessarily drastic, Takeharu-san. Like Ikutsuki-san said, she saved my life tonight. I could stand to be a little less suspicious, and a little more grateful."

Takeharu glanced at him in surprise. He shrugged as he continued. "Besides, if she is going to be a part of my team, then we need to interact with her, have her learn about us, so on and so forth. You know, build a team dynamic. I can't trust my life to someone who I don't know, and only seeing her on operations wouldn't let her build that trust."

He sighed. "So, I say, let her be free, for now. We can interact with her tomorrow and determine if she's ready for field operations then."

He looked over to Aigis. His discomfort seemed to melt away as he looked into her surprisingly human-like eyes. "If she does anything to endanger the team in any way, now, or in the future, we'll stop her, then notify you immediately, and you can take her to the lab and lock her up then."

He looked back over to Takeharu, an small smile on his face. "Right now, though? I think she's earned a little trust from us."

Takeharu mulled over his words, then nodded. "Alright, then, if you think that it will be best for your team. Ikutsuki?"

Ikutsuki nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly."

Aigis smiled brightly at him. "Thank you for trusting me, Minato-kun."

Minato gave her a half smirk, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, well, just don't make me regret it, ok?"

She nodded vigorously, causing Yukari to giggle a little. "Rather enthusiastic, isn't she?"

Mitsuru sighed. "Well, I have my own reservations about this, but Minato does make a point…"

Akihiko and Junpei nodded in agreement, as Fuuka smiled brightly at the resolution of the arguement.

Takeharu sighed. "Now that's settled, we can address the elephant in the room: How did a Shadow get so far out here?"

Fuuka nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, that is weird. I thought that we figured out they stayed near Tartarus. Does that mean that they are leaving, spreading out?"

Ikutsuki swallowed nervously. "I hope not. That means that the Dark Hour could be more dangerous to more places than just Iwatodai. We wouldn't be able to handle it if they spread out."

Takeharu nodded in agreement. "Let us hope that is not the case. For now, however, we can only speculate. There is not much else we can do tonight, and you all only have one day of vacation time left. You all should get some rest and enjoy tomorrow. We'll focus on this issue later. Aigis, please follow Ikutsuki here, and he will take you back to the lab for repairs and rearmament."

Aigis nodded. "Yes, sir." She and Ikutsuki left, but not before Aigis cast one last glance at Minato. She smiled brightly at him, then turned and walked down the hall.

Takeharu nodded to the SEES members. "The rest of you can get some rest now. Good work, everyone."

* * *

The group nodded, then filed out of the room…all except for Minato. He exhaled nervously as he began. "Uh…Takeharu-san?"

Takeharu raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yes, Minato-kun? What is it?"

Minato blushed nervously. _Are you crazy? After the drama of today, you really think he's gonna go for this?_ "I know that…after last night…" He sighed. This was harder than he thought.

Takeharu frowned. "I realize that situation was partly my fault, allowing my maids to assist your cousin in her attempt to prank you, and I apologize for putting you in a place where that became necessary. That is all we need to say on the matter, yes?"

Minato nodded his head emphatically. "Yes, sir. I completely understand, and if I could help it, I wouldn't have brought it up…but…" He paused, terror rising in his chest.

Takeharu gestured for him to continue. Minato swallowed his discomfort. "Well, you see, the Shadow was positioned over my bed when it died. They don't just disappear after they die, they just kind of…fall apart. I mean, not to mention that my room is practically wrecked as well."

Takeharu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Just get to the point, Minato-kun." Minato sighed as he decided to just come out and say it. "I don't have a place to sleep tonight, and I was thinking..."

Minato winced internally as he trailed off. _Great, why don't you just say you want to sleep with his daughter again? That would be about as subtle. Maybe you should ask if he wouldn't mind giving you control of the whole Kirijo Group while he's at it. Idiot._

Takeharu nodded in sudden realization. "Ah. I can see how that might be a problem." He mulled it over, before frowning, realizing what Minato was insinuating.

He looked up at Minato with a glare. "Minato, I have tried my best to not interfere with the relationship between you and my daughter these past few days, despite every instinct I have as a parent screaming at me to do so."

He sighed. "My daughter was hurt badly in her last relationship. You must know this. However, she seems happy with you, and I know how you must feel about her, considering your own past. But I cannot just willingly _ignore_ such tawdry behavior."

Minato closed his eyes and stood up, bowing deeply in embarrassment. He mentally berated himself for his behavior. _Good job, idiot. Now you'll be lucky if he even lets you talk to her._ "Yes, sir. I'm very sorry to have brought it up. I'll see if Junpei will let me sleep on his chair, or something…"

He turned to leave, but Takeharu cleared his throat. "I wasn't done yet, Arisato."

Minato turned back to his godfather. He had a neutral expression on his face, but somehow, that terrified Minato more than a glare or an angry look. "I refused to threaten you before, knowing that it would seem unnecessary. However, it is more than _just_ unnecessary: it is insulting, to both of you. You are both adults, fully capable of making your own decisions."

Minato raised his eyebrows in confusion. _What? Where is this going?_ "Sir? I don't understand…"

Takeharu sighed in frustration. "Minato, I care about you. If your grandfather had not forced me to relinquish custody after the accident, I would have raised you as one of my own."

Minato's eyes widened in surprise."But why?"

Takeharu shook his head as he continued. "Your father suffered in his final days because of me and my family. I would do _anything_ to try and make up for that cruelty. I am ashamed that I did not push harder to be a bigger part of your life. If I had, things might have been different."

Takeharu's eye closed as he continued. "Either way, my point is this: I don't want either of you to suffer any more pain. If things don't work out between you and Mitsuru, I'm afraid that I would lose both of you."

He sighed, then smirked. "However, Mitsuru has made me realize that worrying about that is pointless. This is not my battle to fight: It is hers, and yours. As such, I can only do so much to help. I must trust in both of you to find the correct path, and to help where I can. After all, 'two in harmony surpasses one in perfection,' and I am far from perfect."

Takeharu opened his eye and stared at Minato, a deadly serious look in his eye. "So, I will ask you this: Can I trust you to behave as a gentleman tonight, if I allow this to occur?"

Minato's eyes widened in surprise. _He's actually agreeing to this? Holy crap…Well, the least I can do is to reassure him. _

Minato looked into Takeharu's steely-grey eye and nodded once. "Yes, sir. Mitsuru means a lot to me, and I will not do anything to jeopardize that."

Minato blushed as he continued. "I won't lie and say that I am not tempted. However, I…want to treat her right. Like she deserves. That desire beats any other that I might have."

Takeharu nodded, pleased with Minato's honesty. "Very well. Don't make me regret this, Arisato. If she refuses you, you honor that, and you come back to me. I'll arrange something else for you."

Minato nodded emphatically. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

Takeharu closed his eyes and smiled at him. "Get some sleep, both of you. It's been a long night. Besides, your grandfather is leaving early tomorrow. I'll send a maid to wake you when they are leaving, so you can see them off."

Minato nodded. "Of course. Thank you again. Good night, sir." Minato walked out, nerves shot. _I can't believe that just happened…_

* * *

Takeharu watched Minato leave, a sense of joy and sadness intermixed in his stomach. The son reminded him so much of the father, he realized. Saburo had been one of the boldest people he had ever known, having been willing to defy Takeharu's father and continue his friendship with Takeharu, despite the difficulties involved. Not many people had defied Kouetsu Kirijo and lived to talk about it, but Saburo had, and had done so often.

He smiled broadly. Saburo's son seemed to have inherited that same boldness, which had also been combined with his mother's iron will. A deadly combination. Not many people would have the audaciousness to ask Takeharu Kirijo a question as bold as Minato's had been, especially knowing what Takeharu could do to them for asking such a question. But only someone who had the ability to brave such a danger, and be unafraid of the consequences, could even have a chance of convincing him that they were serious about her. Only someone who would be proud of his feelings for Mitsuru, and be unashamed to admit it, would be worthy of her in his eyes.

He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, before sighing and heading for bed. _I miss you, old friend. I wish that you and Akane were still here. You would be proud of who your son has started to become…_

* * *

Minato quietly knocked on Mitsuru's door, his heart hammering in his chest. The walk after talking with her father did nothing to calm his nerves. If anything, he was even more nervous. Last night, Mitsuru had offered her bed to him as a personal gesture of aid. Now, he was _asking_ to sleep in her bed. There was a huge difference. She could just as easily say that it was a one-time thing or that she wanted to wait until later in their relationship. He winced as he heard the lock come undone. He exhaled to calm his nerves as the door opened. "Hey, I know that this might be…"

He never finished his sentence. Mitsuru had opened the door and yanked him inside without pause. She shut the door and looked at him with an intense stare. "After I saw the state of your room, and that you were alright, do you know what the first thing I thought was?"

Minato shook his head. "No. What was it?"

Mitsuru smiled. "I hope he comes back to my room tonight."

Minato blinked. "Even after what happened this morning?"

Mitsuru smirked. "Even so. You know, you make a pretty good pillow. I couldn't sleep the same way after how well I slept last night."

Minato smirked, his nervousness fading with her flippant tone. "Oh, really? I can't say I've ever gotten that kind of compliment before."

Mitsuru took on a mock angry glare. "I should hope not. You are for my personal use only. Everyone else can get their own."

Minato laughed. "What do you know?…You do know how to sweet talk, after all."

Mitsuru laughed at his comment, then stared at him with soft eyes, humor giving way to affection. "How do you do that?"

Minato shook his head in confusion. "Do what?"

Mitsuru gave him a strange look, as if she were appraising him. "I have spent most of my life learning the proper way to do things. Always being drilled on how to act, how to think, and how to talk. I learned that there is always a proper way to do everything in life, be it eating, talking, or even walking. Over time, I came to enjoy the order that came with learning them."

She smiled brightly at him. "But in the few weeks since I've been with you, I don't care about any of that anymore. I don't care about social etiquette, or proper behavior, or any of it."

Minato smirked. "You make it sound like I'm a bad influence on you."

Mitsuru shook her head. "On the contrary. It makes me feel…free. You don't care about how I should act, or whether something I do is proper or not. You just…"

Minato crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I care about who you _are_. Not who others say you should be."

She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying his embrace. "Hah, it's funny...I don't know what to say…and for the first time, that doesn't scare me."

Minato smiled as he pulled them back towards the bed, then kissed her lightly, holding her hands in his. "Come on. It's late. We should get some rest. We have a big day of relaxing to do tomorrow."

She nodded, smiling at him. "Which side do you want?"

He smirked. "Does it matter? You're just going to use me for a pillow again."

She smiled, and nodded. "Good point." She pushed him onto the bed, then crawled in next to him. The two of them settled in next to each other, then slipped into Orpheus' sweet embrace.

* * *

July 22nd, 2009

* * *

Minato woke to the sound of light knocking on the door. It was early. There was barely any light outside. He tried to move, but found his limbs strangely heavy. He looked down and smiled as he found the reason why. He and Mitsuru had entangled themselves pretty well, he observed, as he attempted to pull his arm from under her head without disturbing her. After some deft maneuvering, he managed to disentangle himself from her and quickly changed out of his bedclothes. He then answered the door, and the maid outside bowed to him. "Master Arisato, Master and Milady Shirogane are waiting for their car in the main hall. If you go now, you can catch them before they leave."

Minato nodded in thanks. He quickly shut the door behind him and followed the maid into the hall. His grandfather and cousin were waiting next to the main door, bags next to their feet. He smiled at the two of them. 'Early to rise' seemed to be the Shirogane family curse. "You know, it's a shame you have to leave so soon."

Kyohei smirked as he turned around to face his grandson. "You know that our cases can't wait that long. We've slacked off enough for one week."

Minato shook his head in disagreement. "They've waited this long. Doesn't mean you can't stay for one more day."

Kyohei shook his head. "No. I appreciate the offer, but…"

Minato nodded, recognizing defeat. Kyohei disliked being idle as a rule more than anything else. He had done what he had come here to do, and was ready to get back to work. He sighed. "It's alright. I understand."

Kyohei shook his head. "Well, I expect you to take care of yourself, boy."

Minato smiled at the thinly veiled concern. "I will, gramps. You can be sure of that. Besides…" He gestured over his shoulder at the guest wing. "…I have the rest of them to make sure I don't get into too much trouble."

Kyohei smirked, then stepped forward, staring right into Minato's eyes. "But, before I leave, one last truth."

Minato's eyes widened in surprise and horror. _I just stopped wanting to strangle him at every available opportunity, and he brings this up? _ He frowned. "Oh?"

Kyohei lowered his eyes in shame at his grandson's glare. "I lied earlier, when I said that you were the only thing I had left of your mother." He held his hand out. "I want you to have this."

Minato reached out and his grandfather dropped a small medallion on a simple silver chain into his hand. He looked it over. The chain was simple and inelegant, but the medallion was expertly engraved, with words surrounding an engraving of a butterfly. He muttered the words, taking in their meaning. "_Life is meaningless without something to protect_."

Kyohei nodded. "That is apparently the Arisato family motto. Your father must've had it made for your mother. It was the only thing that survived the accident, apart from yourself." He frowned as the shame of his actions settled over him.

Minato gave a sad smile, and grasped the medallion. "…I should be angry that you kept this from me…but I know why you did."

Kyohei nodded sadly. "I'm a selfish old man. Always have been."

Minato slid the necklace over his head, letting the medallion rest on his chest. He closed the distance and hugged his grandfather. "Well, don't forget to call, _old man_."

Kyohei chuckled lightly, then pulled away. "I need to go check on the car. Goodbye, Minato. Enjoy the rest of your vacation." He gave a small smile to Minato, then stepped outside.

Naoto, who had been watching the two intently, smiled as she walked closer to Minato. "You know, when I first got here, I was expecting a boring trip where I spent most of my time reading."

Minato laughed. "Not so much. At least the group was cool, huh?"

Naoto tilted her head in acknowledgement. "I suppose it was a pleasant surprise." She moved in and hugged him. "I'm happy for you. They're a great group of friends."

Minato nodded. "They are, aren't they?"

Naoto smirked, then pulled away. "Well, take care of yourself, and tell them I had a great time with them all."

Minato nodded. "I will. You take care of yourself, and Gramps too."

Kyohei came back in. "The car's here."

Naoto nodded to her grandfather and picked up her bag. She smiled at Minato. "See you later, cousin…and don't forget to call again."

Minato nodded emphatically. "Yes, ma'am!" He saluted mockingly.

She rolled her eyes at her cousin's actions and waved over her shoulder as she walked out. Kyohei nodded to Minato, picked up his bag, and followed her out. Minato watched them load up the car from the doorway with a bemused expression.

Before now, he had always thought of family as something that was just _there_, that just by being related, it instantly made you connected with them. He knew that wasn't true now.

He hadn't truly _cared_ for his grandfather before. He had always appreciated what Kyohei Shirogane had done for him, but he had never liked him much as a person. The incident with Haruya had only emphasized that feeling. Now, after all the lies and deception were gone, he felt that he understood the old man better. Kyohei had always hid his feelings, and had paid dearly because of it. Now, he spent his time trying to make up for his mistakes, in the only way he could. Minato respected that, and chose to move on, to show the same respect his grandfather now showed to him.

Naoto had the same problem with her feelings that Minato had, but he hoped to change that. Minato hoped that, by showing her the happiness that he had experienced with SEES, she would seek out that kind of feeling in her own life, with other people of her own age. He didn't expect that change to happen overnight, but he hoped she wouldn't go through the same horrible experiences he had to, in order to find it.

As his grandfather looked back at him, standing in the door way, Minato smiled brightly at him and waved. Kyohei's gaze softened, then a small smile momentarily broke out on his face. It disappeared quickly, however, and soon, the Iron Detective was back in charge. Kyohei got into the back seat without a word, and Minato turned back and reentered the house, a feeling of contentment in his heart.

* * *

"Does he ever run out of energy? We both stayed up so late last night…" Akihiko said as he watched Junpei run face first into the ocean spray. Minato shook his head. "I dunno. I will take it as a sign of the apocalypse if he ever does, though."

Akihiko smirked. "Well, in that case, let's make sure he has a constant supply of Mad Bull." Minato nodded in agreement as they waited for the others to show up. The SEES members had all decided that they would spend their last day of vacation on the beach, together. The guys had quickly changed and run out after breakfast, with Junpei practically jumping up and down with anticipation and excitement. He had paced eagerly for all of 30 seconds, before exclaiming he wasn't waiting any more, and running off.

Minato shook his head at his friend's antics, then turned around at the sound of footsteps. It was the girls, along with their newest member: Aigis. The blonde robot smiled at the sight of Minato and a small amount of discomfort wormed its way through his stomach at the sight. He quickly quashed the feeling, berating himself. Unless she did something to prove she was a threat to them, he promised he was going to at least attempt to be welcoming to her. His discomfort with her was just something he was going to have to live with.

He smiled brightly as the girls walked up to Akihiko and him. "Hello, ladies. Good morning, Aigis."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "Do we have a mission at the beach today? I am not equipped for such an endeavor."

Minato shook his head, a small smile on his face. "No, there's no mission today. We're on vacation right now."

Fuuka smiled at Aigis. "Do you know why we are taking a vacation, Aigis?"

Aigis nodded. "Vacations are meant to be trips to refresh the body and mind. When taken with friends and loved ones, it can instill a deeper bond between them."

Minato glanced at Mitsuru. He certainly felt closer to her, seeing more of who she was behind the mask of indifference she put up normally. It was nice. He smirked. "Yeah, that's right. It's our last day here, however. We decided to take this time to bond as a group. You know, take the time to relax."

He sighed as he remembered all that had occurred over the past few days. "Although, sometimes, it didn't really feel like I got to relax much on this trip…"

Junpei took that moment to run up to the group. "Come on, you guys! We need to get in the ocean one last time before we leave! It's a moral imperative!"

He turned back around and ran back into the spray without another word. Akihiko smiled. "Alright, why not? Hey, Junpei! Race you to those rocks over there!" He quickly tore his shirt off and tossed it aside, before chasing the baseball-capped teen into the clear ocean water.

Yukari looked at Aigis curiously. "Can you go into the water, Aigis?"

Aigis nodded in affirmation. "I am fully waterproof. But why would I submerge myself for no purpose?"

Yukari smirked. "It's for fun! Come on, I'll show you!"

Yukari grabbed Aigis' hand and dragged the confused robot into the surf, with Fuuka not far behind. That left Minato and Mitsuru alone on the beach. He looked over at her, a smirk on his face. "Wanna go join them?"

She froze at his words, then smiled at him nervously. "Um…no, I'm ok. They seem to be having fun, and…"

Minato's eyes widened in realization. A grin broke out on his face. "You…aren't _still_ afraid of swimming in the ocean, are you?"

Her quick response removed all doubt. "No! I most certainly am not! I just…have some…reading I want to do…" A blush formed on her cheeks as she attempted to look innocent and innocuous.

Minato shook his head in disbelief. They came to the beach to relax together. _Being separate kinda defeats the purpose._ _How to convince her…? _He straightened as a plan formed in his head. It was dangerous, but it could work.

Minato grinned evilly as he stalked towards her, his hands outstretched. She looked towards him with a fearful expression on her face. "M-Minato, what are you doing?"

He yelled in victory as he pounced, sweeping his arm under her legs and back, picking her up in a bridal carry. She yelped, face burning red, flailing wildly in an attempt to escape as he turned and ran towards the ocean. "Minato Arisato! Put me down this instant! I swear, I'll execute you if you take me into that water!"

Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears, as she was thrown unceremoniously into the water by a cackling Minato. Minato quickly followed after her, jumping into the spray, and submerging to hide himself from her rage. He swam as fast as he could, placing as much distance between him and her as possible.

Mitsuru rose out of the water with a deadly expression on her face. She looked around, searching for her soon-to-be-executed boyfriend, and was surprised to see him missing. It was smart. If he had stood there, gloating, she would have executed him then and there.

She looked all around her, and could not see any sign of him. He was obviously hiding in the water. She could wait for him to come up, but a plan came to her mind, using information acquired just recently. She looked for the blonde robot, who was currently being taught the dead man's float, unsuccessfully. She called out. "Aigis! Can you locate Minato for me?"

She shot up and pointed to her immediate left. Minato then emerged out of the ocean next to Aigis, spluttering at her. "That is so not fair! Aigis, come on! You are supposed to try and ensure my survival, not my execution!"

Aigis actually grinned at him. "To facilitate greater unit cohesion, I volunteered this information despite the potential personal cost. I apologize for the inconvenience, Minato-kun, but it seemed necessary."

Minato stared at her in shock, then looked over at his girlfriend, an incredulous expression on his face. "I think that the robot just made a joke."

Mitsuru smiled sweetly at him, a dangerous lilt to her tone. She started wading towards him, her eyes glinting dangerously. "Well, at least hers are funny, _Mina-kun_."

He chuckled nervously, slowly backing away farther into the ocean. "Come on, Mitsuru, you have to admit, that was kinda fun…"

She nodded matter-of-factly as she waded closer and closer. "It was, but I will enjoy this so much more."

He made a noise of panic and dove back under the water, swimming with all his strength in an attempt to escape. She quickly dove under after him, all fear of the ocean extinguished under her desire to enact swift and deadly revenge on the one who wronged her.

* * *

Minato conceded the fact that, maybe tossing her in the ocean might not have been such a great idea as he held his head in his hands, attempting to block out the pain. She had held back, as she hadn't been _too_ angry with him, but her execution had still hurt. Mitsuru smirked at him smugly from her spot in the chair next to him. "Did you learn your lesson?"

Minato glared at her. "I still don't see what the problem was…"

Her eyes narrowed angrily. "Really? Shall I express my displeasure again, to make sure you understand?"

Minato shook his head forlornly. "No. I understood that perfectly."

Mitsuru nodded in satisfaction. "Good. However, I feel as if separating myself from the others defeats the purpose of our being here, so you may have had a point."

Minato stared at her in disbelief. His jaw dropped involuntarily. He felt pure outrage build within him, but he quashed it. _It's not worth getting killed over. _He sighed and settled back into the chair.

The two of them looked out on the SEES members, watching them interacting with each other. Akihiko and Junpei were arguing over something in the water, it looked like. Akihiko looked smug, while Junpei was blushing and making wild gestures.

* * *

Junpei shook his head, disagreement written on his face. "I didn't give up, I never joined the contest! So therefore, I can't have lost."

Akihiko smirked challengingly. "Oh, no, you aren't getting out of this that easily. Just admit that I won."

Junpei shook his head even more emphatically. "No way! There's no way that you beat Minato too…"

Akihiko looked towards the two lovebirds sitting on the chairs. "I don't think he particularly cared about our little contest, do you?"

Junpei blushed as he looked towards Minato and Mitsuru, then groaned in defeat as the pieces fell into place. Minato wouldn't have done anything to jeopardize what he had with Mitsuru, and so he probably hadn't done anything during Operation: Babe Hunt.

He sunk into the water in humiliation. He couldn't believe that Akihiko had actually beaten him.

* * *

Yukari and Fuuka swam around with Aigis, intent on making their new member feel welcome. Fuuka splashed some water towards Yukari, and Yukari screeched in surprise at the sudden, playful attack. Aigis quickly retaliated for Yukari, pushing a small wave towards Fuuka, nearly bowling her over. Fuuka looked at Aigis in surprise, then laughed. Yukari soon joined in, followed by Aigis' own smile of amusement. A small war seemed to break out at that point, and they started flinging water at each other with playful abandon.

He smiled brightly as he looked out on his friends. They all looked like they were having fun, even Aigis, surprisingly enough. He closed his eyes as he reflected on the path he had taken to get here.

These wonderful individuals had taught him how to live. They made him realize what it was to care about others, to trust someone other than yourself, and what he had been missing his whole life by cutting himself away from that.

He glanced down at his mother's medallion sitting on his chest, and the words engraved on it. Life for him _had_ been meaningless, until he met them. They had been the catalyst for unlocking his power, and they gave him the strength to continue. As he looked out on the people he cared about, he made a vow. He would do anything to protect his friends, and his grandfather, and his godfather, and his cousin: His family.

He smiled as he murmured under his breath, "After all…Life is meaningless without something to protect."

Mitsuru looked over at him with a content look on her face, and smirked. "Well, do you want to head back in? It looks like they are having fun."

He smiled and nodded, eager to spend the day with her, and with everyone else. "Sure."

Time would not stop for them, no matter how much they might want it to. Tomorrow, they would go back to a life full of danger and pain, so they needed to make memories of light and laughter while they could. It would be all that would sustain them during the dark days ahead.

* * *

Ikutsuki looked at the SEES members frolicking in the ocean, and frowned.

Their naiveté made him want to retch.

They played and joked and laughed without a care in the world, not knowing what a diseased piece of garbage they lived on. It made him sick.

His gaze fixed upon the most hated out of all. Anger and hate boiled in his stomach at the sight of the blue haired teen.

The grandson of the person he hated most in the world was right there. It took every ounce of control to not walk down to the beach and strangle the life out of those smug, arrogant eyes.

He smirked as he imagined the reaction that Shirogane would have if his precious grandson were to die by Ikutsuki's hands. It would be sweet irony indeed.

Kyohei had killed his brother, the man that had been Shuji's whole world, even after all they had done for the man.

He shook his head as he turned away from the window. He needed to wait only a little longer, then he could have his revenge on the world that wronged him.

After all, it was only fair; an eye for an eye…

A life for a life…

A world for a world…

.

.

.

_**(Well, this was kind of a tough one to write. Sorry it's so short for how long the wait has been, but Yakushima in general was rather tough to write, because much of what I needed to do was make scenes purely from scratch, and I don't have a lot of experience doing that yet. I hope that I didn't do too badly with this, especially considering how plot dumpy most of these past few chapters have been. Anyway, we'll get back into the thick of things in the next chapter. We'll get some more Strega, some Shinji, some fighting, and some other stuff. We might also get started on Summer Break! Since Minato is in the Fencing Club, I have my own idea of how this tournament thing is gonna play out, and it's gonna be cool…I hope… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please review or PM me if you have any questions, concerns, criticisms, or if you just wanna say you liked it!) **_

_**Hope to see you all next chapter! – Dr. Ninja**_


	14. July 23rd - 25th

Disclaimer: This is not a new chapter. I separated the original chapter 3 into two parts. Sorry for the confusion.

July 23rd, 2009

* * *

Shinjiro sighed in relief as he saw a head of familiar crimson red hair turn the corner into the dark alleyway. _Bout time she got here. I'm almost out. _The head of hair belonged to a girl in a gothic style dress. Her name was Chidori, and she was bad news. She had apparently had serious connections to some bad people. She was the only one that Shinjiro had found that had access to the suppressants that allowed him to control his Persona, who didn't want to kill him. How she got them was a mystery, but Shinjiro didn't really care. He needed them, and she could provide. The less he knew, the better.

He smirked disarmingly as he stood up and met her halfway, holding out his hand. "Bout time you showed up. I was about to come looking for you. Wouldn't want you to get hurt, wandering these alleys all by yourself."

Chidori simply stared back as she dropped a pill bottle into his outstretched hand. He nodded as he shook the bottle, satisfied with the sound of the pills rattling around. He dropped the bottle into a pocket and moved to walk past her. "I'll let you know when I can pay –"

She held up a hand to stop him. "Wait. I want information instead."

He raised an eyebrow. This was new. "You want information? About what?"

She looked at him directly. "The high school students during the Dark Hour. What are they doing?"

Shinjiro felt the pit of his stomach fall out. She wanted to know about SEES? A sense of danger washed over him, so he decided to play dumb. "How should I know?"

The corner of her mouth tilted in amusement. "You used to be one of them. Of course you know."

Shinjiro inhaled sharply. "How do you-"

She cut him off. "What are they doing, Shinjiro Aragaki?"

He scowled. He had never revealed his name, and she had never asked. Now he knew why. "What, am I supposed to be impressed you know my name? You should try harder."

All of a sudden, he felt an uncomfortable sensation pulling on his jugular. He recognized it as the blade of a knife. A sultry voice whispered in his ear. "How's this? Hard enough for you?"

Shinjiro nodded slightly, and the sensation disappeared. He whirled around to see an unfamiliar brunette sheathing a blade in a holster on her side. She smiled brightly at him, and tilted her head. "How's things, Shinji? We've never met before, but I'm Inari. I'm the new boss, and I want to know what those brats are up to."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow in confusion. "New boss?"

He heard a familiar voice call out from behind him. "That's right, now, stop playing around and tell us what we want."

Shinjiro turned around and scowled at the blue haired man he had once trusted. "Jin. Why am I not surprised that it was _you_ pulling her strings the whole time?"

Jin smirked. "Come on, Shinji, think about it. Where would someone like Chidori get something like those pills? They're expensive." He chuckled darkly. "I mean, sure, she's hot, but she's not _that_ hot."

Chidori's face darkened as she turned on her heel haughtily and walked back down the alley. Shinjiro watched her go, intrigued. Dissent in the ranks, perhaps? He shook off the thought and focused on the task at hand. "So, Jin, where's Takaya? Thought you two were inseparable, with your crusade against the Kirijo Group and all."

Jin's face darkened as he glared at Shinjiro. "He's dead. You'll join him soon if you don't tell us what we want to know."

Shinjiro's eyes widened in surprise. Takaya was dead?

Jin and Takaya had approached him not long after he had left SEES 2 years ago. They had seemed genuinely concerned about him for a while, offering him a place to stay, and feeding him, and so on. That was before they had dropped the bomb on him: They revealed that they knew about the Dark Hour, and had seen him lose control of his Persona at one point. They had sought him out because they wanted to offer him a place among them.

He had declined, refusing to kill and maim innocent people. He had already had his fill of murder, after all. They hadn't taken it well, and they had fought each other to a standstill. In the end, they had let him go, something that had surprised and confused him to this day.

He shook his head regretfully. Despite their differences, Takaya and Jin had been the only people he could turn to for a while. He had even liked them, for a time. To hear that Takaya was dead was shocking. "What? How the hell did that happen?"

Jin snarled. "None of your business!" He reached into his coat and pulled out a short-barreled revolver. He cocked it and pointed it at Shinjiro. "Do I have to repeat myself? Tell us what we want to know!"

Shinjiro shook his head, unwilling to push Jin further. Takaya's death had obviously been personal for him. He stuck his hands into his pockets as he started. "Look, all I know is what they told me when I joined. They're hunting down these special Shadows in an attempt to destroy Tartarus, and remove the Dark Hour."

Jin's eyes widened in surprise. "They…What?" His face twisted in anger as he lowered the gun in shock. "Those idiots! Don't they realize what they're doing?"

Inari's bark of laughter took Shinjiro by surprise. "Of course they don't. They're playing hero. All they can see is the danger of the Dark Hour. They don't see the benefits."

Jin shook his head. "It isn't just that, Inari. We…" He stopped as he realized who they were talking with. He held up the gun again. "Thanks for the help, Shinji. If you tell them you've seen us, we won't hesitate to come find you, and finish what we started last year."

Shinjiro scoffed. "Come on, you know I won't do that. I couldn't give a shit about them."

Jin nodded. "Thought not. Get out of here, Shinji. I'll have Chidori contact you when I have a new batch of pills for you."

Shinjiro scowled as he walked down the alley in the same direction that Chidori had gone, leaving the two psychopaths behind. He closed his eyes as he processed what he had learned today.

Takaya was dead, somehow.

Jin was taking orders from a new lady friend.

Chidori was working for them the whole time, which meant that Jin had been keeping tabs on him since he had left a year and a half ago.

Some things still made no sense to him. Why put all that effort in making Chidori the middleman? To build trust? To get him hooked on the suppressants? Why had they wanted to know about SEES, and their objective so badly? And who was this Inari? Why was she running the show now?

He shook his head. It didn't matter. It didn't concern him, so why bother worrying about it? Shinjiro scowled as he continued walking towards home. The normally comforting presence of the pills in his pocket had become heavy and disconcerting, but he did his best to ignore it.

* * *

July 24th, 2009

* * *

Minato felt a gentle push against his shoulder, waking him from his sleep. He groaned. "Come on, Mitsuru. Just a couple more minutes."

A robotic voice answered him. "I am not Mitsuru-san. Please wake up, Minato-kun."

Minato bolted upright in bed, fully awake, and turned to look at Aigis in alarm.

She was standing in his room in the dorm.

In his _room_.

His reaction to this realization was less than dignified. "Aigis?! What the hell?! What are you doing in my room?!"

Aigis just smiled at him. "Mission accomplished. Standing by."

Minato's eye twitched in annoyance. "Ok, look, I don't know why you're in here –"

Aigis tilted her head. "I heard that it was advisable for humans to wake up 5 minutes early every day from Akihiko-san. Therefore, my objective was clear."

Minato glanced at his clock and saw that it was indeed 5 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He closed his eyes in exasperation. "Look, I appreciate the thought, Aigis, but you can't just break into my room and do this kind of thing."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "Why not?"

Minato sighed. It was like explaining it to a child, and in a way, that's what it was. "It's against the rules. My room is my room. You need to be _invited_ in, unless under special circumstances, like an emergency."

Aigis' eyes narrowed as she processed that information. "Very well, I will add it to my list of human customs." Minato rubbed his eyes. The robot girl's naiveté was going to be a joy to deal with. "Listen, can you –"

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Yukari's voice came through. "Hey, you up, Minato-kun?"

Minato nodded as he called out, "Yes, I'm up. What do you need, Yukari?"

She sighed. "Aigis has gone missing again. We are preparing to go look for her, and I figured –"

Aigis spoke up. "I have not gone missing. I have been fulfilling my secondary objectives."

Yukari's voice came back panicked. "What?!"

Aigis went over to the door and opened it. Yukari looked at her with panic in her eyes. "How did you get in?!"

Aigis tilted her head. "He was asleep when I came down, so I unlocked the door."

Minato snorted in amusement. "No, really?"

Yukari ignored Minato and shook her head. "Aigis, didn't we tell you to stay in the command room at night? Why did you come down here?"

Aigis frowned. "The command room is too far away for me to respond effectively to his needs. I propose that I remain on standby in here from now on." Both Minato and Yukari yelled an emphatic, "No!" to that, which caused Aigis to frown deeper. "Why not?"

Yukari sputtered in embarrassment. "B-because boys and girls can't sleep in the same room!"

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "But Minato-kun and Mitsuru-san have –"

Minato bolted out of bed, panic running through his system.

_How the hell does she know that?! _

He quickly stammered out a reply, cutting Aigis off before she could continue. "W-what she means, Aigis, is that it's against dorm regulations! So we'll be happy to get you a room closer than the command room, if staying close to me is your primary concern, right, Yukari!?"

Yukari's eyes widened momentarily, before she blushed and nodded. "Y-yeah! We should be able to get you a room. There aren't that many people living here, so I'll see what we can do for you."

Aigis' frown faded to a neutral expression. "That is acceptable."

Yukari nodded. "Good. Let's go up to the command room then. We can discuss this there."

Aigis walked out of the room past Yukari, and up the stairs towards the command room. Yukari looked back at Minato with a small smug grin. "So, did you and Mitsuru…?"

He shook his head in a panic. "No! We just slept, that's all!" He winced as he realized what he'd just blurted out. He'd been played. Again.

Yukari's grin widened. "Well, I was wondering where you slept after your room was destroyed. Guess that answers that question."

He scowled, a deep blush on his face. "You tell no one of this, or I swear to god, Mitsuru will know exactly who to come after first. Understood?"

Yukari nodded lightly before turning and bolting up the stairs after Aigis, her laughter barely contained. Minato sighed and slammed his head against the wall as realization struck him. Aigis had been watching him the whole time he was on Yakushima. Of course she knew about that.

_Whose great idea was it to let her stay in the dorm again? Oh, yeah, mine… Shit, Yukari's probably gonna grill her for details too. Damn creepy robot stalker…_

He continued his mental grumblings as he started getting ready for school.

_It's gonna be an interesting day. I can tell already._

* * *

Mitsuru stared at Minato out of the corner of her eyes, deep in thought. The two of them had become much closer over the events at Yakushima, and it made having to go back to a detached attitude somewhat difficult, at least for her. Although she was not ashamed of her relationship with Minato in the least, there _were_ those who would accuse her of abusing her power to get her boyfriend into high-ranking positions.

She scoffed. The thought was ludicrous, as anyone who knew anything about Minato knew he was perfect for the job of deputy. Still, that fact wouldn't stop potential troublemakers from trying to slander them both in a lobby for power, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. She frowned. She hated the fact that they had to tiptoe around their feelings for each other. It made it feel like they were doing something _wrong_, sometimes. She sighed, forcing the thoughts from her head. It was pointless to speculate on events they could not control. They would just have to be careful.

The bell for lunch rang, snapping Mitsuru out of her thoughts. Mr. Ono smiled at the class as he prepared to leave. "Well, class, the exam results ought to be posted by now, so you can probably head down to the faculty office and see how you did." At the mention of the exam results, Mitsuru perked up. The bet the two of them had made on the results would be resolved, here and now.

Minato looked at her expectantly, and they both stood up to walk down to the faculty office corridor. As they descended the empty staircase, Minato smirked. "So, are you prepared to lose that bet?"

Mitsuru smiled challengingly. "No, I am simply looking forward to enjoying a nice dinner on _your_ dime."

Minato chuckled. "Well, in that case, I guess we both win?" Mitsuru nodded in agreement.

As they passed the second floor classes, they ran into Junpei and Yukari. At the sight of Yukari, Minato blushed slightly and his eyes narrowed as he growled out a greeting. "Yukari. Junpei."

Yukari had a large smile on her face at the sight of the two of them, but refused to make eye contact with Minato. "Minato-kun. Mitsuru-senpai. Where are you two headed?"

Mitsuru looked between the two concernedly as she answered. "To check the exam results. You?"

Junpei nodded. "Same. I have butterflies in my stomach, I'm so nervous. What about you, boss?"

Minato broke his glare at Yukari and turned to Junpei, his normal demeanor returning. "I feel pretty confident. Besides…" He looked to Mitsuru. "…I have a bet to win."

Junpei looked between them in alarm. "You bet against her? Dude, are you nuts? She's like, one of the smartest people in the school!"

Mitsuru smiled brightly. "Thank you for the compliment, Iori. I told him that too, and he didn't believe me."

"Come on, Junpei, don't you have any faith in me?" Minato said, disappointedly. He sighed. "It's saddening, is what it is."

Junpei shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, boss, but I don't expect that you're gonna win this. She's Student Council President for a reason."

"Well then, I'll be happy to defy your expectations, Junpei."

Mitsuru shook her head. "_My_ expectations for you are high enough already, Arisato. You don't have anything to prove to me. But who knows? You might surprise me."

Minato nodded in satisfaction at her words, but Mitsuru smirked at him. "You might actually show up on the list this time."

Minato gave her a withering look, as the two juniors chuckled at her words. "Oh, ha-ha. When I'm looking at that top score with my name on it, _I'm _expecting an apology."

The four dorm mates walked with the growing mass of students moving towards the faculty office. When they entered the hallway, a small crowd had gathered around the sheet already. Mitsuru and Minato stepped forward, and some of the crowd parted respectfully for them. They quickly scanned for their class number and Minato's face fell. "Are you kidding me? How the hell…?"

Mitsuru's score was the exact same as his. They had tied for the highest score in the class.

Mitsuru tilted her head in amusement. "Well, I hadn't been expecting that…"

Minato turned to her, incredulity on his face. "What are the odds of that happening, exactly?"

She shook her head."I don't know the exact numbers, but it's extremely unlikely, considering the amount of questions we had to answer."

He sighed, half frustrated, half amused. "We didn't plan for a tie when we made that bet…"

Yukari gasped suddenly as she looked at her class's page. She turned to Junpei, an incredulous look on her face. "How did you manage _that_?!"

Junpei's face twisted in confusion, and looked for his name on the sheet. His eyes widened in surprise as he located his name…at 7th from the top. His score was just below Yukari's. "What?!"

Minato looked at the results and let out a bark of laughter. He slapped Junpei on the back companionably. "See!? What did I tell you? I knew that you were smart! And you didn't believe me!"

Junpei's jaw hung open at the results. He had felt good while taking the exams, but he hadn't expected _that_ result. Mitsuru smirked as she read Junpei's results. "Congratulations, Iori. I'm impressed."

Junpei looked to her in admiration. "T-thanks, Senpai. I'm just as surprised as you."

She smiled kindly as she shook her head. "I'm not that surprised. Just impressed. Keep up the good work, Iori."

Yukari looked at Junpei amusedly. "Guess you aren't so Stupei, after all, huh?"

Junpei looked at his friends, who seemed energized by his performance on the exams. He felt a sense of joy come over him at the effect his success had on them. Maybe school wasn't such a hassle after all. Hell, if he had done this well with how badly he had studied, maybe he could do even better next time! He smiled. If he got the same sense of satisfaction…Maybe studying wouldn't be so bad after all.

After congratulating Junpei, Minato turned to Mitsuru with a thoughtful look on his face, returning to the task at hand. "So how are we going to settle this thing? Do we both win the bet?"

Mitsuru just smiled at him. "Yes. We both lose."

Minato looked at her, confused. "But I just said…"

She just shook her head slightly, a playful gleam in her eyes. "I know what you said."

Minato blinked, then nodded in realization, a small grin appearing on his face. "Oh, ok. Gotcha."

Yukari snorted, a look of amusement on her face. "_That_ was subtle."

Minato turned to Yukari, a glare burning on his face. "Hey, remember that thing I said this morning? You're treading some thin ice, there."

Yukari glared back, but her smile never wavered. "Yes. I know." She turned her back on him and started walking back to her classroom.

Minato sighed as he watched her go. "Dammit. She's gonna be impossible to live with…"

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes at Minato suspiciously. "Okay, what is going on between you two? Do I need to be worried?"

Minato looked at her, and a slight blush broke out on his face. He rubbed the back of his head. "No! …Well, maybe. It's… probably better if we discuss that later."

Mitsuru nodded hesitantly. When Minato started acting indecisive, it was time to worry. "Why do I have the feeling I am not going to like this?"

"Cause you probably aren't."

"Fantastic."

* * *

After classes were over, Minato found himself without anything to do. Student Council had settled all of their outstanding business before the Summer Break had even occurred, and the Fencing team was meeting tomorrow to discuss their upcoming tournament, so they weren't meeting today. Mitsuru had a prior obligation she needed to settle, Junpei had dazedly wandered home already, Akihiko had said something about training for a 'special bout', and Yukari had archery practice.

However, as he wandered out of the train station entrance, he was surprised to see a familiar red trench coat wearing teen walk into the nearby side alley. The same side alley that Minato had followed Junpei and Yukari down two months ago. Minato's curiosity was triggered. Why was Shinjiro heading back there? Did he have business with the punks back there?

Minato quickly decided to tail him, his curiosity enveloping his common sense. After his last visit, he was sure he had a target on his back, but Shinjiro was still an enigma to him. As Minato crept up to the corner, he noticed Shinjiro talking to a girl in a Gothic sundress. She had hair that was even brighter red than Mitsuru's, but she had a blank expression on her face. The two of them spoke briefly, and then the red haired girl handed Shinjiro something. He nodded, then passed her a few bills from out of his pocket.

He frowned. Was Shinjiro buying drugs? It wouldn't surprise him. Lots of people buried their pain with narcotics, and Shinjiro had a pain that was worse than most. Minato shook his head in disgust. That was a cowardly way of thinking, using drugs to bury the pain, and killing yourself in the process. But hadn't he just hidden his pain too? Sure, he didn't rely on drugs to bury it, but he had buried his pain all the same.

Minato was debating what he should do with this information, when a hand grasped his collar, snapping him out of his thoughts. The hand shoved him forward, out of the corner, and into the alley proper. Minato wheeled around and saw a group of 6 thugs, led by a guy with a stitched nose and lower lip. Minato sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Today was really not his day.

Stitches scowled at him. "So, you think you can just come back here and not pay the consequences?"

Minato tilted his head. Maybe diplomacy would work. "Listen, I'm sorry I ripped out your piercings. I was in the middle of a bad period in my life, and…"

Stitches snarled in anger, cutting him off. "Shut the hell up! I don't give a shit about your problems! You have no idea how painful this shit is! I'm gonna take my pain out on your scrawny hide, pretty boy!"

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a switchblade. His cronies pulled out various weapons of their own, ranging from chains to pipes, and started to try to encircle him. Minato grimaced. This was pretty bad. Without his rapier, he wouldn't stand much of a chance, and he wouldn't risk summoning his Persona in front of all these people unless it was _really_ dire. He clenched his fists. The Aikido lessons he had taken when he was much younger, combined with the recent training he had done with Akihiko and Mitsuru, would have to do.

Just as the last two guys took up positions behind Minato, a gruff voice sounded out. "What the hell are you doing?"

Shinjiro had evidently noticed the situation and had come to investigate. Stitches grimaced. "None of your business, Shinjiro! Now scram. This punk needs to learn a lesson."

Shinjiro's eyes narrowed. This was the second time in as many days that someone had dismissed him like that. Unluckily for Stitches, he didn't scare Shinjiro. "Oh? And what lesson might that be?"

Stitches snarled. "I'm gonna mess his face up, like he did mine! It's only fair!"

Shinjiro shook his head in disgust. These pricks were everywhere, and they never learned. "…You're an asshole."

Minato decided to take advantage of the distraction that Shinjiro provided to run towards one of the guys to his front. He grabbed onto the wrist of the guy's pipe hand and twisted it behind his back, causing the guy to scream in pain and drop his weapon. It landed right into Minato's other outstretched hand and he swung it down in one smooth motion, causing it to intersect with the back of the guy's knee. The pipe made a sickening crack as the guy buckled under his own weight, holding his knee and screaming in pain.

Minato swung around to catch the chain that had been aimed at his head with the pipe. The chain wrapped around the pipe, and the guy pulled, expecting to pull Minato off balance in a fight for the weapon. Minato let go instead, surprising Chains as the pipe came flying toward him. Minato took that opportunity to move in behind Chains, and barely managed to dodge the knife that whistled towards his ribs a second later. He threw an elbow at Chains' face as he went past, causing him to drop his chain to take care of his newly broken nose. Minato took in the state of the fight while he had a second or two to breathe.

Shinjiro was fighting two of the other guys, and had taken one out already. He seemed to be fine, which filled Minato with relief. That just left Stitches and Chains for him. He turned back to see Stitches thrusting his knife towards Minato's belly, screaming in hatred. Minato couldn't dodge in time, and so he decided to try something tricky. He waited for the right moment, then grabbed onto Stitches' wrist and twisted, redirecting the attack up and away from his body. The knife grazed his cheek on the way past, and Minato felt a blaze of pain from the newly opened wound. Compared to the damage he had sustained in his trips in the Dark Hour, though, it was nothing. He twisted his body, taking Stitches' arm with him, and pulled it behind Stitches' back, causing Stitches to drop the knife, screaming in pain at his abused limb.

Minato leaned forward and snarled angrily into his ear. "I could break your arm and not think twice about it. Call off your goons, or you are going to have a nice cast to go with those stitches!"

Stitches yelled as Minato twisted his arm farther up his back. "Alright! Alright! Stop! Everybody stop!"

The goons that were still up and mobile stopped and turned towards the two of them. Stitches whimpered. "Guys, call it off! We're over our heads here!"

They took Stitches' advice and stepped back from Minato and Shinjiro. They gathered up their weapons and wounded and started to stumble out of the alley. After they had gotten far enough away, Minato let go of Stitches' wrist and stepped away from him. Stitches whirled around, holding his arm. "You better watch yourself, asshole. Next time, you aren't gonna have a guardian angel watching out for you." He turned to Shinjiro. "And if I see you around again, I'll kill you, Shinjiro!"

Shinjiro just smirked. "You can certainly try."

Stitches spat at Minato's feet as he walked past, following his cronies, probably to the hospital to get checked out. Minato turned to Shinjiro, breathing heavily. "Thanks. I didn't know if I would have made it out without your help."

Shinjiro shook his head angrily. "What the hell were you even doing here? You had to have known those assholes were just looking for a chance to jump you."

Minato tilted his head, wondering what he should say. Akihiko seemed to prefer blunt honesty, and Shinjiro was friends with him, so maybe Shinjiro would feel the same.

Minato smirked confidently as he answered. "I was following you."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smirked. "Really? You're pretty honest about that with someone you don't know. Someone else might have taken offense." A dark look came over his face as a thought came to him. "Did Aki send you?"

Minato shook his head, a small smirk on his face. "Hell no. The idiot blew me off today so he could train."

Shinjiro chuckled. "Sounds like him. If you weren't here for Aki, why were you following me?"

"I dunno." Minato admitted. "Akihiko told me a little about you, and I'll admit, I was curious."

Shinjiro frowned. "What did Aki tell you about me?"

Minato grimaced momentarily, and Shinjiro shook his head in exasperation. "Goddamnit, Aki. When will you stop dredging up the past?"

Shinjiro turned to leave, and Minato blanched. He had promised Akihiko that he would speak to Shinjiro the next time he saw him, and he intended to make good on that promise. He called out after his retreating form. "Hey, you want to get some ramen?"

Shinjiro turned back, a surprised look on his face. "What?"

Minato shrugged. "I figured since you saved my life and all…"

Shinjiro smiled, just a little bit. He nodded. "Ok, why not?" He pulled out his wallet and frowned. He had given all the money he had saved to Chidori for the second set of suppressants he requested, so he didn't have any money to pay for food.

Minato shook his head at Shinjiro's dejected look. "My treat. It wouldn't be right to make you pay, seeing as how you saved me and all."

Shinjiro's smiled wider at Minato's words. "Alright. Let's go then." As Shinjiro walked up to him, however, he frowned in concern. "You're bleeding."

Minato blinked, then smiled. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it, I get bigger cuts than that in Tartarus all the time." Shinjiro frowned at Minato's casual dismissal of his injury, and grabbed Minato's head roughly, examining the wound.

Minato spluttered at the rough treatment, thinking he had done something to set him off. "I-I'm sorry I mentioned…"

Shinjiro smirked. "Don't worry about that. Hold on."

He reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a tube of disinfecting cream. He popped it open, slathered a bit onto the ends of his fingers, and smeared it on Minato's cut. Minato was so surprised by the gentle-yet-rough treatment that he didn't even notice the burning sensation of the cream on the open wound. Shinjiro then put the cream back into his pocket and pulled out a small bandage, presumably from the same pocket. He pulled it out of its package, then slapped it onto Minato's cut. He observed his work, and nodded, satisfied. "There. Now you won't get an infection."

Minato blinked. This was the gruff, tough guy that Akihiko butted heads with? Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly, and squared his shoulders. "Look, living out here is dangerous. You can't always go to the hospital, and you need to be able to take care of yourself, so it pays to be prepared." Minato nodded vigorously. "Yeah, ok, I understand. Thanks, again."

Shinjiro smiled. "Anyways, now we can go." Minato nodded again, and the two of them started walking towards the strip mall. Minato blinked as he went over the events in his head. Shinjiro had come to his aid, for almost no reason he could see. That meant that he still had the drive to protect others. Then he had treated Minato's wound, which showed he cared about others, even before himself. Yet he obviously hated his Persona, lamenting the fact that it had killed someone when he hadn't been able to control it.

Minato shook his head. If he couldn't control his Persona, didn't that mean he hadn't fully accepted parts of himself yet? If what Minato's shadow had said was correct, then Personas' were part of your personality, given power and form. If you had a part of your personality that you didn't accept, and that was part of your Persona? Then it would potentially reject your control, and go berserk. Minato resolved himself. He would try to find out the cause of Shinjiro's problem if he could. Maybe then he would finally be able to move on, no matter if he decided to come back or not.

* * *

"Welcome! What'll you have?" The owner of Hagakure Ramen greeted them as the two boys walked in. He grinned at Shinjiro, recognizing him. "Hey, there, Shinji! The usual?" Shinjiro nodded, and Minato made an accepting gesture. "I'll have the same."

The owner nodded at the two boys, then turned around to start fixing their meal. Minato sighed as he sunk onto the barstool next to Shinjiro. "Man, today has not been my day."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Minato reached up to touch his wounded cheek and winced at the pain, which caused Shinjiro to scowl. "Would you stop that? You're gonna make it worse."

Minato shook his head apologetically. "Sorry." Shinjiro grunted, then resumed his silence. Minato sighed.

_He's an even better conversationalist than my grandfather… _

He shook his head. If he was going to learn anything about him, he would have to reach out.

Minato cleared his throat, deciding to start small. "So, what is it you do, exactly, Shinjiro? I've never seen you at school before."

"None of your business."

Minato tried again. "Ok, so how do you know Akihiko?"

"He probably already told you that."

"...You're right. Sorry." Minato mentally smacked himself. This wasn't working. Maybe he should be honest with him from the start, instead of trying to work his way up to it.

He sighed. "Look, Shinjiro, I'm not gonna lie to you. Akihiko wanted me to talk to you, the next time I saw you. He thinks that I can convince you to come back, somehow."

Shinjiro snorted. "I would say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. Aki is desperate."

Minato nodded. "He is, and I'm not gonna say he's wrong. But I think he's going about it in the wrong way. Rubbing your past mistakes in your face isn't going to make you come back. And besides, it's your choice to come back or not."

"No shit." He scowled. "Ok, let me make this easy for you, then: I'm not coming back. There's nothing for me there."

Minato shook his head. "Not based on what I saw today. You clearly have a soft spot for people in trouble –"

He slammed his hand down on the counter. "Is that what you think happened today? You think I stepped in to that fight 'cause I'm soft?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah. You can put up the tough guy act all you want, but I'm pretty sure that's _exactly_ why you stepped into that fight."

Shinjiro snarled, anger building. "I stepped in to stop an idiot from being killed 'cause he was an arrogant bastard!"

Minato shook his head. "You stepped in because you care. Deeply. You probably hate watching people who don't deserve it, get hurt."

Shinjiro's eyes widened in surprise as Minato continued. "It's why you were worried about my cheek earlier, and why you asked me to look after Akihiko, when you had no idea who I was. It's why you do your best to take care of the Lost. It's also probably why you hate the fact that it was _your_ power that hurt someone that night 2 years ago."

Shinjiro scowled at the mention of his greatest failure. "You think you know me?"

Minato shook his head, drawing a surprised look from Shinjiro. "No. This is all speculation, based on the info I have already. I could be completely wrong. I won't be able to know who you really are unless you tell me, and that's not something we can do over just one bowl of ramen."

Shinjiro shook his head in equal parts confusion and frustration as their food was served. "What in the hell do you want from me?"

"I propose we meet up and eat here together, every Friday night from now on. I'll pay for your food, and you can repay me by telling me however much about yourself as you want." He shrugged. "But that's your choice. I can't force this on you."

"Why?" He asked, scowling. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

Minato tilted his head in thought. "Because I want to get to know you better. Because you're hurting, and look like you need someone to care. As for why it matters to me…" He looked down at the ground as he remembered his meltdown, and how easily it could have been prevented. "…Sometimes the best way to deal with pain is to talk about it with someone who understands."

Shinjiro shook his head in disbelief. "How could you possibly know what I'm going through?"

Minato shrugged again. "I can't. I've never been in that situation." At that, Shinjiro snorted derisively, but Minato continued, unperturbed. "…But I do know what it's like to run from how you feel. To hide your pain away deep inside."

Shinjiro blinked in confusion. "What? You think I'm running?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I do. I recognize the symptoms. It's how I was too, until fairly recently. But you know how I got out of it?"

Shinjiro shook his head. Minato smiled sadly. "It got shoved in my face how big an idiot I was being, and how it was hurting the people I cared about, by cutting myself off from them."

Shinjiro's face twisted in pain as Minato's words struck home. "Stop. I've heard enough."

Minato nodded. "Ok. I apologize for my bluntness, but like I said earlier, I just want to get to know you…and again, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's your choice." He smiled disarmingly at that. "Well, anyways, let's eat. Don't want it to get cold."

He grabbed a set of chopsticks and pulled his bowl in front of him, inhaling the steam and smell of the broth. "Oh, man, it smells good. Bon a petit!"

He quickly dug into his ramen with gusto. Shinjiro looked at him askance. This blue haired kid had just made accurate predictions of his thoughts and behavior based on a few conversations and interactions? He shook his head disbelievingly, curiosity driving him. "…How did you do that?"

Minato swallowed his latest bite and turned to look at Shinjiro. "Do what?"

Shinjiro scowled. "All that stuff about me: How did you figure it out?"

"I've been doing it for years. Psychoanalysis, I mean." He said matter-of-factly. "My grandfather is a detective, and he trained me to do it."

Shinjiro blinked. A detective? "Really? Why?"

Minato smiled as he started to tell his story. "Well, you see, 10 years ago…"

Shinjiro listened to Minato's tales as he ate, enthralled by the mystery of the boy in front of him. After they had finished their food, and Minato had filled him in on the short version of his life's story, Shinjiro thought over the teen's offer. He didn't seem to want to force him to come back to SEES, despite his original intention, having not brought it up since the beginning of the conversation. He sighed. What harm was there in talking with him? He'd get free food out of it, and besides; Akihiko never visited him unless it was to bug him about returning to SEES, and, as sad as he was to admit it…he was lonely.

Minato worked out the kinks in his neck and stood up as he pushed his empty bowl forward. He smiled at Shinjiro. "Well, it was nice to finally meet you for real, Shinjiro. I'll see you around." He turned to walk out, laying a few bills on the counter.

Shinjiro shook his head. "Wait." Minato turned back, and Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head. "So, if I agree to meet up with you on Fridays, I can say as much or as little as I want?" Minato nodded, and Shinjiro pursed his lips in thought. A second later, he nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. It's your money, after all. But don't expect you'll get too much out of me."

Minato smiled. "It's ok. I won't…at first."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You'll crack eventually." He glared at him with mock intensity. "They always do."

Shinjiro laughed at Minato's joking attempt at intimidation. The sound of his own laugh was foreign to him. He hadn't laughed in years, he realized. "Well, I'll be happy to prove you wrong."

Minato chuckled at that and turned to walk out, satisfied at the result of the conversation. Shinjiro suddenly felt the weight of the pills in his pocket increase, as a sense of dread came over him. Jin, Chidori, and that other chick, Inari, probably had their sights on him and the rest of SEES now, judging by their reaction the other night. A sense of guilt buried its way alongside the dread, and he felt his mouth open involuntarily. "Hey, Minato. Watch your back out there."

Minato waved nonchalantly over his shoulder. "Yeah. I will." He closed the door behind him as he left, and Shinjiro dropped his head into his hands. Conflicting thoughts warred in his head, as his emotions ran amok.

**Why do you even care about what happens to them? They made their choice.**

_Does that mean that I shouldn't care? They are fighting for good reasons. They're good people._

**So? You aren't. How long is it going to take for that to sink into your thick head? So stop feeling guilty!**

_So I should just serve them up on a silver plate? No, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me._

**A bit late for that sentiment, huh? You already told Jin and Inari what SEES is looking for. **

_I could still warn Minato, or Akihiko. They wouldn't go in unprepared._

**Then they'd just ask where you know them from, and then they'd treat you like the bad guy for doing the 'right' thing. Besides, Jin would notice, and then he'd come and kill you. He's already got you on the back foot, and you need him for those suppressants anyway.**

Shinjiro sighed as he made up his mind. He had already done what he could for SEES, in giving that small warning to Minato. That sentiment did nothing to silence the guilt and panic that roiled in his stomach, though. He got up and walked out of Hagakure, his head hung in defeat. _Last thing I want is to be seen as the bad guy…_

* * *

July 25th, 2009

* * *

"…And so I need all of you to come in for the next week or so. We only have a few days left until the National tournament, after all, and I believe that we have what it takes to do extremely well." The rest of the fencing team nodded at Mitsuru's words. Although they had been practicing their collective asses off for the past month, they were about to kick off into overdrive. When Minato had first joined the club, the Fencing team was good, but unfocused. After he had started to show up to practice regularly, and Mitsuru had a regular sparring partner, the change had become evident. They threw themselves into their bouts, fighting with every ounce of strength.

Now, they were fierce, determined, and skilled.

_Just like SEES… She really does know how to whip teams into shape, huh?_

Mitsuru smiled at the team and dismissed them all. Minato walked up to her as everyone was filing out of the practice room. "So, how far do you think we can make it during this thing?"

Mitsuru tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. I think that we have a decent chance of making the quarter-finals in Epee. Cho and Daichi have been working really hard lately. Saber has you, me, and Masato, so we might make the finals or even win the whole thing. Foil…worries me though."

Minato tilted his head in confusion. "How so? I thought that Hoshi was one of the best foil fencers you've ever seen?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "In technique, yes, but he has problems under pressure. If things don't go his way from the beginning, he begins to fold mentally and falls into patterns. He becomes easy to exploit."

Minato nodded sadly. "Ok, yeah, that's understandable. And no one else is good enough?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. But that's why we're taking the extra time for training. Maybe we can help fix his pressure problems before the tournament."

Minato nodded, following her logic. At that point, most of the team had filed out of the training room, and the two of them were mostly alone. Minato smirked. _Perfect. _He cleared his throat to gain her attention as he enacted his plan. He had rehearsed this sentence several times in the past day, and so he hoped he didn't butcher the pronunciation. French was a language he wasn't that fluent in, but he was a quick study. "_Alors, Miss Kirijo, vous me ferait l'honneur de m'accompagner sur une date? Dire…parfois autour du 16__th__?"_

Mitsuru blushed heavily as she stared at him in amazement. That had come out of nowhere. How had he known that she spoke French at all? Either way, to be asked on a date _this_ way was… unexpected. "Uh…I…I have to check my schedule first, but I think that I could make it work…"

Minato nodded, a small smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that they were alone in the room. "Of course. I'm looking forward to it." He made a grand flourishing gesture, reaching out for her hand and kissing it. Inwardly, he couldn't help but laugh at himself for his corny actions. If Naoto or Yukari ever found him doing this, he'd never hear the end of it. But after seeing the pure affection radiating from her from his clichéd action, it made it all worth it.

* * *

Junpei was a bundle of nerves and energy right now. He was finally prepared to enact his plan. He paced up and down the hall on the third floor, waiting for Fuuka to show up. She had been on his mind constantly since Yakushima, and he had barely been able to restrain himself until now. With the stress of his exam results out of the way, and summer vacation beginning tomorrow, he didn't want to waste any more time that he could potentially spend with her.

He heard footsteps on the stairs behind him, and he wheeled around. His face fell in disappointment, as Yukari walked up the steps. She noticed his look and frowned. "You know, it's rude to look like that when you see one of your dorm mates."

Junpei nodded apologetically. "I know, Yuka-tan, and I'm sorry. I was just…" He exhaled in frustration. "Never mind."

Yukari looked at him with an intrigued expression. "What's up with you, Junpei? You seem nervous."

Junpei looked at her in surprise for a moment, then nodded. Yukari had softened towards him considerably in the months that they had been dorm mates and comrades, and he was still getting used to it. "I am. I'm…waiting."

Yukari tilted her head. "Waiting? For who?"

As if called by her words, Fuuka stepped into the corridor, and smiled brightly at the two of them. "Hello Junpei-kun, Yukari-chan. How are you all today?"

At the sight of Fuuka, Junpei's face started to burn red slightly. Yukari noticed this and looked at him with surprise. She grinned at him knowingly, then turned to Fuuka. "I'm actually pretty tired. I was just heading to bed."

Fuuka's face fell slightly. "Oh, I hope you feel better."

Yukari nodded, then winked at Junpei. "Yeah, me too." At that, she turned to enter her room, and closed the door behind her, leaving the two in privacy. Junpei's face twisted in confusion. Had Yukari figured it out already? He shook his head. It didn't matter. He turned to Fuuka. "Hey, Fuuka-chan, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Fuuka gave him a look of momentary surprise, then nodded. They walked over to the lounge area and sat across from each other. As he sat down however, Junpei felt a burst of terror. The confidence he had felt at Yakushima had deserted him, right in his time of need. He froze, horror dawning on his face as he realized the words would not come out. Fuuka noticed his terrified look, and her face twisted with concern. "Junpei-kun, are you alright? You look pale."

Junpei couldn't speak. His mind was racing with panicked thoughts, all telling him to abort, to get out before too much damage was done. He shook his head in frustration, which Fuuka took to be an answer to her question. She stood up and put a hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. The sudden contact caused Junpei to burn bright red and start sweating uncontrollably. Her concern calmed his fears somewhat, however, and he attempted to speak. "Fuuka, I…"

Fuuka pulled her hand away with a worried look on her face, cutting him off. "You're really hot, and sweating! I'm going to get the medical kit!"

As Fuuka turned to run to the bathroom, Junpei's hand shot out of its own accord. He grasped her hand, preventing her from leaving. She turned to him in surprise, to see him smiling brightly at her. His throat cleared, and the words started to spill out of him. "Fuuka, I'm fine. I'm just nervous, is all."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Nervous? Why?"

Junpei let her hand go, and stood up to look straight at her. His nerves were blaring alarms in full force, but he ignored them. His heart beat so fast he thought it might bust out of his chest and start running down the hall. He smiled as he began. "So you know that scene in 'Lovers in Space', when Takashi wants to tell Captain Yumi how he feels about her for the first time? You know, when he's just standing outside her door, staring at it, thinking how he should start?"

Fuuka blushed suddenly and nodded tentatively. He grinned shyly at her. "That's kinda how I feel right now. The only difference is that I am not going to give up and walk away, like Takashi did."

Fuuka's eyes widened as Junpei exhaled, centering himself. He closed his eyes as he started. "I have something I want to tell you. Before I met you, I thought that all girls only liked guys that were super manly and tough. N-not that there isn't anything wrong with liking guys like that, I mean!"

He sighed as he forced himself to calm down. "Look, what I'm trying to say is…I'm not one of those guys. I'm a big, dumb coward. I hide from my problems, and put on this dumb façade of ignorance, so I don't let anyone know how weak I really am."

He opened his eyes and looked straight at her. She had her hands up to her mouth, trying to contain her heavy breathing. He smiled sadly at her. She wasn't taking this well at all, but he had come this far. Even if she didn't feel the same way as him, she deserved to know how much she meant to him. He continued. "But, when I'm with you, I feel strong. I feel like I can take on the world's problems if I have you backing me up." He stepped forward and looked down into her watering eyes. "I don't want to hide anymore."

He sighed as he put his hands in his pockets. "So, I guess I just want to ask you one question: Will you go out with me?" She gasped and turned away from him, the tears in her eyes spilling out. Junpei grimaced, a spear of pain jammed into his heart. That's what he figured would happen.

He chuckled sadly. Of course, she wouldn't be interested in a loser like him. Tears threatened to spill from his own eyes. "Sorry…I-I'll leave you alone now."

He turned away and prepared to walk away when he heard a choked cry. "Wait!"

He turned back to Fuuka, who shook uncontrollably from the force of her tears. "I-I don't know what to say, Junpei-kun."

Junpei swallowed. This was going so much worse than he'd thought it would. He decided to try one last time. "W-Well, you could say…yes?"

Fuuka shook her head sadly. "I-I don't think that I am what you want, Junpei. I-I'm not that pretty, or feminine, or..."

Junpei's eyes widened in surprise. She thought that she wasn't good enough for him? A lightness overtook his heart, as the feeling of rejection sloughed off of him. He shook his head emphatically, cutting off her self-detractions. "None of that matters to me, Fuuka. It's who you _are_ that I like, not what you look like." Her eyes widened in surprise at his words.

At that, he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered to her, a sly grin on his face. "Although, to be completely honest with you, you are _beautiful_. That's a bonus."

She blushed and folded her hands together shyly. "O-Oh. Uh…" She pursed her lips in thought, then looked up at him with a small smile on her face. "W-Well, if you are ok with me, then I would be happy to go out with you, Junpei-kun."

Junpei's face broke out with a huge smile, and his fist shot into the air, an exact copy of his victory pose. "Yes!"

He threw his arms around Fuuka unexpectedly, which caused her to make a squeal of surprise. He quickly pulled back, a blush on his face. "Whoops, uh…sorry. I got a little carried away there."

She just chuckled, blushing slightly. "I-It's ok. I-I don't mind."

His face softened, as his embarrassment disappeared. "Thanks, Fuuka-chan." A few seconds passed, with the two of them staring at each other, both at a loss for words.

Junpei rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled nervously. "Um, so…are you doing anything tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Did you want to do something together?"

Junpei racked his brain. He had been thinking so hard about what to say to her, that he never gave any thought to what would happen if he succeeded. He tilted his head. "W-Well, there's a new movie out. Does that sound good to you?"

She nodded. "S-Sure. What's it about?"

Junpei shook his head solemnly. "I have no idea."

Fuuka smiled as she said, "Why am I not surprised?"

Normally, Junpei would take offense to someone saying this. But from Fuuka, it seemed innocent, or playful, even. He smiled as he steeped his fingers in front of his face. "It's all part of my master plan. Mystery Movie Night!"

Fuuka laughed at his enthusiasm, and Junpei smiled back. The two of them sat down, making alternative plans for their date tomorrow in case the movie was terrible, and ended up simply enjoying each other's company until well into the night. As Junpei sat in bed reflecting on the day's events, he realized it didn't matter what the two of them did together. As long as it was with her, it was time well spent.

.

.

.

_**(Hey there. Sorry this took so long again, but I have been battling a severe case of writer's block for the past few days. I know where I wanted to get to, but no idea on how to get there. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, and how I want to portray Shinjiro, and more importantly, Chidori. She's going to be a very interesting character for me to write, because she's going to end up being quite a bit more important than in the game. As always, please leave me a review or send me a PM if you have questions, concerns, criticisms, or feedback of any kind. I very much appreciate it. Hope to see you all next chapter! – Dr. Ninja)**_

_**Translation: **_"So, Miss Kirijo, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a date? Say… around the 16th?"


	15. July 25th - 27th

That evening…

* * *

The sound of footsteps echoed through the alleyway as Shinjiro walked toward the homeless shelter he called home, a heavy sadness evident in his gait. The conversation that he and Minato had shared yesterday still weighed heavily on his mind. It was an internal debate without end. No matter what justification he told himself, he still felt guilty for not telling Minato the truth.

**What is the matter with you? He makes a few good guesses and now you think that he knows you? That he can somehow help you? He can't change the past, and for that matter, neither can you. **

_I know that, but he said he could help. Maybe talking about it will help me find forgiveness. Redemption._

**You are a _murderer_. End of story. There is no redemption for what you've done. **

_So, what? I should just sit here in this… limbo for the rest of my life, never doing anything to try and make up for it?_

**What are you talking about? You **_**are**_** trying, no matter how futile it may be. You already help those who can't help themselves. They deserve your attention, not SEES. Besides, Minato is a tough guy. He can take care of himself. They all can.**

_You and I both know that if he can't see the hit coming, he doesn't stand a chance. It doesn't matter how tough he is. He needs to know._

**Hey, it's your funeral. Besides, you're forgetting about-**

A click, barely loud enough to be audible, broke Shinjiro out of his thoughts. He stopped and turned around slowly, arms raised. Jin stood in front of him, his stubby revolver aimed straight at Shinjiro's head, his face emotionless. Inari was next to him, her arms crossed.

**Speak of the devil, and they shall appear…**

"You know, I thought that you would have better instincts than this, Shinji." Inari said snidely. "From the way Jin talked you up, you sounded like a real tough guy to get the jump on."

Normally, their presence would have caused intense anger and anxiety in Shinjiro, and that was without the gun being held to his head. Instead, Shinjiro felt nothing but a calm acceptance. If the two of them wanted to kill him, there wouldn't be much he could do about it, and, if he was honest with himself, he couldn't think of a reason to object to it either. No one would miss him, with the possible exception of Akihiko. Even then, it's not like Akihiko would be surprised that Shinjiro would be found dead in a back alley.

Still, they weren't showing him any respect, and he would be damned if he died without respect. So instead of being totally apathetic, he scowled deeply and said, "Well, most nights I don't have to worry about assholes with guns sneaking up on me, so forgive me if I'm less careful than you might think."

Inari tsked. "C'mon, Shinji. You know the rules of the jungle. Kill…or be killed." A tense moment passed before Inari made a gesture, and Jin lowered the gun. "Anyways, we didn't come here to lecture you." She said blithely.

Shinjiro scoffed. "Then why are you following me?"

"Because you screwed up." Jin said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You messed up my meticulous and perfectly planned ambush on your blue-haired friend yesterday."

Shinjiro's eyes widened. "_You_ sent those guys?"

Jin scoffed. "Of course. You really think that those idiots could have tracked him down that quickly?" He shook his head. "I knew that he would be alone that day, and told those thugs exactly where to find him, free of charge."

"Of course, if things had gone according to plan, then he would be dead or in a coma right now." A scowl etched its way onto Inari's face. "We hadn't planned for _you _to be there, and certainly didn't plan for you to help him!" She stepped forward menacingly, and Jin's gun snapped back up, trained on Shinji's head.

"Why _were_ you there?" Inari asked angrily.

Shinjiro quickly worked through his options. Lying was out of the question, right off the bat. A bluff might have worked on Inari, but it definitely wouldn't fool Jin. He was one of the best information brokers in the country. The guy hacked into the Iwatodai PD mainframe for laughs. There wasn't much that Jin couldn't find out, so lying would just get him killed.

Instead, Shinjiro told him the only thing he could; the truth.

Well, or most of it.

"I was on my way home from picking up those suppressants you sent when I heard a ruckus coming from a nearby alley," Shinjiro said lightly, nodding to Jin. "I went to investigate, saw him in trouble, and the rest you know."

Jin turned to Inari, a scowl darkening his features. "I thought that you told Chidori to change the meet up time."

"I thought I did." Inari snarled as her eyes lit up angrily. "That stupid bitch… She couldn't even get one thing right…" The bitter comment surprised Shinjiro. Apparently there was more dissension in the ranks than he'd previously thought. The two women apparently didn't like each other, and somehow, he didn't think that Jin was much of a peacekeeper. Charisma had always been more of Takaya's field.

_Hmm, maybe I can use that to my advantage…_

"You know," he added sardonically, "If you didn't want the chance of me messing up your plans, you could have… Oh, I don't know… told me what you were planning? Or at least given me a heads-up?"

"Why should we have done that?" Inari asked, her eyebrow rising in confused anger.

"So we wouldn't even be having this conversation right now?" He shook his head in reproach. "All it would have taken was a 'don't be here around this time, or you'll be sorry', and you would have gotten him. No muss, no fuss."

As the realization visibly sunk into Inari's face, he added, "You're the ones who screwed up, not me, so do me a favor and get that gun out of my face."

Jin pursed his lips as he mulled it over. After a second, the gun dropped to his side and he nodded to Inari, who scowled and stepped back. Once she was next to Jin again, she said, in a low and deadly voice, "In that case, let me give you fair warning so this doesn't happen again: We're going to kill _every_ last one of those idiots. If you see any of them in trouble again, you ignore it and walk away."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Shinjiro scoffed, exuding a confidence he did not feel. "Come on, guys. That chestnut's getting kinda old, don't you think?"

Jin's blank expression slowly turned into a terrifying grimace. "No," he said lightly, "We won't kill you, not at first. We'll kill every one of those sheep that you help take care of down at the shelter, make you watch as the life, however little it may be, fades from their eyes, _then_ kill you." He tilted his head, terrible grin still intact. "Got it?"

Whatever form of apathy he had felt towards his own life, all he felt now was terror. Of course Jin knew about the Lost that he took care of at the shelter. Why wouldn't he? He'd been keeping tabs on him ever since their falling out 2 years ago.

Minato had been right yesterday. If there was one weakness that he still had, it was that he _hated_ watching people get hurt, and Jin knew that. What was worse was that Inari looked like she was fully capable and willing to do just as he'd said. Takaya had never held human life in high regard either, but right now, Inari made him look tame. With Takaya gone, Jin had no stabilizing influence, no control. Inari seemed to encourage his natural bloodlust, and that was worrying. Either way, they'd backed Shinjiro into a corner. There was only one option left to him.

"…Alright." He bit out grudgingly. "Understood."

"Wonderful." Inari said as Jin slipped the gun back into his jacket. "See you around, Shinji." The two of them turned around and slipped back into the shadows of the alleyway, their footsteps barely registering in the echo of the man-made valley.

Shinjiro watched them leave, then let out the breath he had been inadvertently holding. His terror gave way to a bright, burning anger. He looked down at his arm, and saw his hand was clenched into a trembling fist. The only other thing that Shinjiro hated more than seeing people get hurt, were people who intentionally hurt others. He always had, and now, Jin and Inari fell squarely into that category. It was clear that they saw SEES as a serious threat, and didn't care who they hurt in order to kill them. SEES would definitely have their work cut out for them in the months ahead.

…**But maybe things won't be so dire for them, in the end.**

_What do you mean?_

**I mean, it would be a shame if Jin and his friends were suddenly brought to the forefront of SEES' attention.**

_...Inexplicably, you mean?_

**Exactly.**

Shinjiro bared his teeth in a feral smile. Strega had made a terrible mistake. By threatening innocents who were only mildly associated with him, they had made themselves into a danger too great to ignore or dismiss anymore.

So he wouldn't.

* * *

July 27th, 2009

* * *

"…So you're saying I _have_ to let Aigis come with on this one." Minato said forlornly as he and Mitsuru followed the rest of the group into Tartarus's lobby.

"_Yes._ We need to get a field test to see if she's truly ready for this." She replied for the fifth time tonight.

Minato groaned audibly for the fifth time tonight, finally drawing an irritated glare from Mitsuru. "I realize that you are in charge of personnel assignments when we are out in the field," she stated icily, "But I am still the leader of this group, Minato."

"I know that, Mitsuru. I just..." He trailed off, his complaint dying in his throat. He knew that they needed to see how Aigis would perform in the field, but that still didn't do much to alleviate his discomfort. He'd spent the last few days actively avoiding her, despite her rather blatant attempts to follow him around. He'd justified it as setting personal boundaries, especially after the 'incident', but he knew that was just an excuse.

He didn't know what was worse; the feeling of uneasiness around her, or the guilt from being so hostile towards her presence.

Mitsuru's expression softened as she noticed his discomfort. "Look," she said lightly, "I understand that her… interest in you is disconcerting-"

"It's not that." Minato said hesitantly. She gave him a knowing look. "Ok, not _just_ that." He added blithely. When he didn't begin to elaborate, she raised her eyebrow expectantly, causing him to sigh again. "Look, I just don't know how to explain it to you in a way that you would understand."

"Try anyway."

He sighed again as he leaned against a pillar, pushing down his anxiety and forcing himself to speak. "Well, you know how when you stand on a roof or a cliff and you peek out over the edge, you get that feeling of discomfort when you see the bottom? That instinctual fear?" She nodded, and he shook his head and swallowed nervously. "Well, I feel that way around her, all the time."

He gave her a guilty look. "I can't tell you why I'm feeling this way, I just…am."

She gave him a small sympathetic smile, then shook her head in confusion. "Then why did you advocate on her behalf to my father if you felt this way? Why not simply allow her to be quarantined where she can't hurt you?"

"Because," he said fiercely, "She saved my life, and she deserved better than what she was getting. Despite my own discomfort, I _know_ that she's not a bad person. I mean, she looks like she genuinely cares about what happens to me sometimes, despite being a robot." He ducked his head in thought. "Hell, at times she's more human than some _people_ I've met…"

"So," she said clinically, "You are having a conflict between your heart and your mind in this case."

He nodded. "What I've observed about her directly conflicts with what my instincts are telling me, and it's driving me crazy. I don't trust her, but she hasn't given me any reason not to either." He sighed exasperatedly. "I don't know what to think about her."

"You can't avoid her forever." Mitsuru said lightly.

"Yeah… I know." He inhaled then exhaled deeply. "Alright, I'll take her out tonight, see what she can do."

"Thank you." Mitsuru said, a smile spreading across her face. She quickly glanced towards the party to see if anyone was looking towards the two of them, and, when she was sure that no one was looking, crossed the distance between them and kissed him on the cheek lightly. She pulled away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I appreciate this, Minato."

A silly grin appeared on Minato's face for a second before he smirked at her. "Well, with a bribe like that, how can I say no?"

* * *

So far, the operation tonight had gone smooth enough. Junpei and Yukari looked right back at home in Tartarus, dishing out punishment to the Shadows with equal parts abandon and fervor. What was surprising to him, was Aigis' performance.

She didn't look like she'd lost a step in the decade that she'd been asleep. She took orders well, following his word without question, and her arsenal of integrated weaponry made it much easier to inflict physical attacks from range, making her the best fire support that the team had at their disposal. In addition, her Persona seemed as if it was built to protect, providing the team with barriers that could reflect and absorb elemental and physical attacks.

He had some concerns, though. His anxiety around her had not diminished; if anything, it had increased. Something about seeing her in action sent chills down his spine, as if something in his body was reacting to her presence. It made it hard to focus on the battle when his stomach tried to jump out of his body every time she fired her machine guns.

In a less personal way, he was also concerned about her in terms of long-term combat. As useful as her Persona was, it wasn't really suited for front-line combat like the others. She could only provide a few barriers at a time before she was taxed, and her offensive abilities were somewhat lacking, only having access to physical attacks. In addition to that, the amount of damage that she could inflict on the Shadows with her arsenal was limited, not only in quantity of ammunition, but in caliber as well. Her machine guns took a fair amount of ammunition to kill even a single Shadow, and she was already running on empty after only a couple of floors.

_And that's why I don't like using guns. Too limited in certain situations, and too dangerous in others. Seriously, it's only because she's a fantastic shot that she hasn't accidentally hit Junpei when he does one of his kamikaze charges... Hmm, I wonder if she could learn to use a melee weapon like the rest of us. Maybe Mitsuru could teach her to fence, or maybe boxing from Akihiko?_

A sudden uncomfortable sensation creeping up Minato's neck snapped him from his thoughts. The anxiety that had burned lightly in his gut all night suddenly flared up, causing him to feel faint. He looked down at his hands in bewilderment, watching them shake.

"What the hell…?"

Fuuka's terrified voice suddenly crackled through the link. _"Guys?! You need to get out of there, now!"_

"What? What for?" Junpei said, his tone concerned.

"_There's… __**something**__ up there with you! Something extremely dangerous!"_

As if in response, a strange clanking noise, like chains grinding against each other, came from behind them. Aigis visibly bristled as she and the others whipped around towards the sound.

The sight that greeted them was terrifying.

It was as if something had eaten all the ambient light in the corridor, turning the area behind them into a wall of darkness. As if that wasn't bad enough, it soon got worse.

The wall of darkness also started moving steadily towards them.

"Run!" Minato screamed. The four of them turned away from the encroaching darkness and bolted in pure, unbridled terror. "Fuuka, find us a way out of here!"

"_I can't! It's interfering with my readings! I'm barely able to keep in contact with you!"_

"Shit!" Minato turned to look over his shoulder, and then quickly wished he hadn't. The darkness had picked up speed, and was gaining on them. "Crap, run faster!"

"I'm running as fast as I can!" Yukari yelled back.

After a few seconds of running in terror, the group came to a T junction and screeched to a halt.

"Which way should we go, Boss?" Junpei asked hurriedly.

"I dunno!" Minato said, panic setting in. He had never hated his horrible sense of direction more than right now. He needed to make a decision quickly, but which way? If he picked the wrong direction, then there wouldn't be a second chance.

Luckily, his decision was quickly made for him.

After a moment of indecision, Aigis turned to the right and set off running down the corridor. "This way," She called over her shoulder.

Minato looked bewilderedly at the others for a second before taking off after her, Junpei and Yukari right behind him. She led them down several winding corridors before finding a large room with a green teleporter pad in the middle of it.

The sight of an exit sent a wave of visible relief through Minato's body. "Thank god. Let's get out of here before-"

The walls surrounding the room suddenly disappeared into an inky black void, and the comforting green light that normally emitted from the teleporter sputtered and winked out. Minato's heart sank. "…that happens. Shit."

That horrible clanking sound emanated from the corridor behind them again, causing the entire group to spin around, weapons drawn.

Luckily, the eldritch darkness had ceased its pursuit, and had instead formed a barrier right where the entrance to the room had been. It wasn't reassuring in the slightest, however. Obviously, whatever had been chasing them was still coming, and now it had them trapped.

"Get ready…" Minato said, terrified. His arms felt like wet noodles, barely able to support the weight of his rapier. His head pounded. He felt like he wanted to throw up, he was so anxious.

"Oh god…" Junpei whispered, his breathing erratic as he started to hyperventilate.

"No, not again…" Yukari gasped, clutching her bow tightly, her knuckles white.

Panels all over Aigis' body retracted as she readied every weapon she had at her disposal. Despite the impressive amount of firepower she had, she still looked worried. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Minato, a shade of what looked like remorse falling over her features for a moment before she turned back towards the danger. A small amount of guilt cut through Minato's anxiety. Even now, she was still concerned about him.

_If we get out of this, I'll have to give her an apology…_

The clanking noise sounded through the corridor again, much closer this time. The walls of darkness seemed to grow darker, if possible.

"Fuuka? Are you still there?" Minato asked under his breath.

"_Barely. I'm starting to pick up something…" _She went silent for a moment then gasped in terror. _"Oh no…"_

A figure suddenly burst out of the darkness. It was over 8 feet tall and was wearing a worn leather duster and a sack with one eye hole cut out of it on its head. It also had chains crisscrossing across its chest and two massive long-barreled revolvers in its hand. It had no feet, and was levitating. The only physical feature that they could see was the single bright yellow eye peeking out from the sack.

"_It's… Death…"_

"Death?" Junpei said, backing up slightly. "How the hell do you kill Death?"

At that moment, the monster started to shake up and down, but otherwise took no other action. They all stared at it in confusion. It took Minato a second to realize that the thing was laughing, a breathless and terrifying sound devoid of humor and light. Then it spoke, its voice low and guttural.

**"Δεν είμαι ο Θάνατος, αγόρι. Απλά υπηρετώ αυτόν που βαδίζει στην σκιά της." **It then looked straight at Minato and its eye narrowed. ** "Ο θάνατος σου είναι απαραίτητος προκειμένου να είναι ξανά ολόκληρη." **It then lowered its revolvers at Minato's head and fired without hesitation.

Aigis immediately dove to the side, knocking Minato out of the line of fire while simultaneously letting loose with everything at her disposal. Junpei and Yukari both whipped out their Evokers and unleashed the biggest attacks they had, creating a massive fiery vortex which completely engulfed the figure. After a few seconds, the vortex dissipated, leaving a massive smoke cloud behind.

"Is it dead?" Minato asked lightly.

"Negative." Aigis said lowly. She got up off of Minato and hoisted him to his feet, then removed the cylindrical magazines from underneath her arms, dropping them to the ground, their ammunition spent. Her weapons retracted into her body and she turned to face the dissipating smoke cloud. "Stay behind me, Minato-kun." She glanced back at him, concern in her eyes. "He won't take you, not while I still function." He nodded and picked up his rapier from the ground right as the smoke cleared and revealed the monster still standing, not a scratch on it.

**"Σειρά μου..." **It said in its unnatural voice.

At that point, all hell broke loose.

It quickly raised one of its revolvers into the air and fired. A lightning bolt the size of a small house struck Io, causing Yukari to cry out in pain before slumping to the ground, unconscious. It fired again, causing a blast of wind so fierce that it picked Junpei up and slammed him against the wall. He grunted in pain, then slid to the floor and did not rise.

"Junpei! Yukari!" Minato cried out. He turned back to the creature and a blinding rage filled him. How dare this thing place a hand on his friends! Minato's hand snapped up to his head and he pulled the trigger, letting loose his Persona. "Jehuty! Brave Blade!"

Jehuty shimmered into existence and immediately flew forward, the blade on his arm snapping upward towards his wrist. He closed the distance in a quick second and swung down, almost faster than Minato could track. The dark creature shuffled in laughter again, then brought up one of its revolvers to block, the blade stopping just short of the creature's head. Jehuty made a crooning noise as he tried to push past and separate the creature's head from its shoulders, but to no avail. After a moment of struggling, the creature's other revolver snapped up to Jehuty's torso. The hammer clicked back as it prepared to unload the gun into Jehuty's chest.

"Orgia mode: Activated!"

A white blur suddenly impacted the creature's side, causing it to flinch. Jehuty quickly disengaged, pulling back his blade and swinging again, this time connecting with the creature's upper shoulder. The blow rent a huge hole in the creature's duster and sent the creature spinning into the wall, where it bounced off and crumpled onto the ground, shuddering before it went still.

The threat eliminated, Minato glanced at where Aigis had landed. Her joints and eyes had taken on an orange glow, steam rising off of them. She glanced back at him and gave him a nod, a slight smile on her face. He felt a smile appear on his face involuntarily. She wasn't so bad after-

A loud crack snapped the silence, and a bullet slammed into Aigis' chest with an audible clang.

"Aigis!" Minato yelled in alarm. She skidded backward across the floor, crying out in alarm. He quickly rushed to her side, taking stock of her injuries. "Oh god…" It was bad. Her arm hung loosely off her side, connected only by a few wires. Her chest plate was dented heavily, and steam started to emit from the cooling vents in her 'headphones'. It took her a visible effort to rotate her head and look at him. "M-Minato-kun…"

A loud click behind him caused him to spin around. The creature was up and had its guns pointed past him, right at Aigis' prone form. **"Σε θυμάμαι, κορίτσι από μέταλλο. Είναι η τελευταία φορά που μιλάς,"** it said angrily, **"Παρακολούθησε με να σκοτώνω τα κατοικίδια σου, και στη συνέχεια εσένα την ίδια." **

"Wait!" Minato said, standing up and putting himself between Aigis and it. "You can understand me, right?"

The creature regarded him confusedly for a moment, and then nodded slowly. Minato scowled as he stared into the monster's bright yellow eye. "Let them go. They were just defending me. That is what you want, right? Me, dead?" The creature nodded again. "Then fine. You get me, peacefully." He raised his finger. "…But only if you let them go."

The creature stared at him blankly. For a few tense moments, Minato felt dread burning a hole in his heart. He looked over at Junpei and Yukari, then down at Aigis. If the thing decided to refuse, then there wasn't anything he could do to stop it killing all of them, one by one.

He scoffed as he looked back at the creature. Who was he kidding? They were all dead anyway. At least this way, if things went his way, only one person would die.

_Please, please, if you're out there... Don't let them die here. They don't deserve it._

Suddenly, the creature started to shuffle up and down in laughter again. It let out a barely audible stuttering hiss, then nodded. Immediately, the teleporter started to emit its normal green glow as power was restored.

Minato sighed in relief, and then moved to pick Aigis up.

"Minato-kun, no…" Aigis said weakly as he approached her. "I won't let you die…"

"Shut up, Aigis." Minato said bluntly, his voice shaking. "I didn't ask you to protect me, and I sure as shit am not going to let you die for me, not when I have a chance to save you." He picked her up softly and then pointed her at Yukari and Junpei's prone forms. "I am ordering you to take them and bring them back to the others. Do you understand?"

She stared at him, pain evident in her eyes. "M-Minato-kun, I-"

"Do you understand?" He repeated roughly, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He knew that what he was asking her to do was not only against her programming, but also against whatever part of her that felt human.

By doing this, he would destroy her just as badly as if she had died right next to him.

_But at least they'll all live… At least…_

"Please, Aigis…" He said sadly, his voice cracking.

After a tense, silent moment, she closed her eyes and nodded.

"Acknowledged… Minato-kun…"

* * *

A green flash emanating from the teleporter pad broke Mitsuru out of her nervous pacing. Fuuka had lost contact with the team over 5 minutes ago, and judging by how pale she looked, things had not been going well. Both she and Fuuka had been desperately trying to re-establish contact when the teleporter had signaled an incoming recipient. Mitsuru quickly turned around, and was greeted with a horrible sight.

Aigis looked as if she'd been hit by a tank, and both Yukari and Junpei were lying unconscious on the pad.

Minato, however, wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Mitsuru's heart sank as she, Fuuka, and Akihiko ran up to the three wounded members. "Where is Minato, Aigis?" She asked as Fuuka and Akihiko got to work assessing the injured.

Aigis didn't respond, her face blank. Mitsuru felt her calm façade cracking with each moment the mechanical maiden refused to answer her.

"Aigis, where is he?" She said, heat beginning to creep into her tone. When Aigis failed to respond again, Mitsuru lost her calm completely.

"Where is Minato, you piece of scrap metal!?" She screamed, angry tears spilling from her eyes. He couldn't be dead. He simply couldn't.

Her raised tone finally drew Aigis' attention. The maiden stared at her with cold, dead eyes. "I tried, Mitsuru-san," She said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I tried to protect him. It was only after him, in the end. I tried, but he said he wouldn't let me die for him. He made me bring them back." She turned away again and said, her voice cracking, "He said… 'Please'…"

Mitsuru stared at Aigis, shocked still by her words. It couldn't be. She was lying. She wanted to hurt Minato, just like he'd feared, right? Life wasn't that cruel…

Was it?

"No, you're wrong!" She bit out angrily. "He's not dead!" She whipped her rapier out of its sheath, and started to storm up the stairs towards the entrance. He wasn't dead. He was still fighting. She'd bring him back, or die trying.

"Mitsuru, no!" Akihiko cried out. He ran up behind her, grabbed her in a bear hug, and lifted her up, preventing her from taking another step.

"Akihiko, let go!" She screamed in pure rage. "I can still get to him! I can still save him!" She twisted in his arms and pushed out, attempting to force him to break his hold on her.

"No, Mitsuru!" He grunted as he pulled and wrestled her away from the door. "If you go up there, you'll… you'll just…" His strength gave out as the realization struck him, and Mitsuru tumbled out of his arms. She stood up and took two quick steps away from him, before stopping and sliding to her knees in defeat.

"He's not dead!" She cried in pure anguish. "He's not!" She dropped her rapier and hugged herself, attempting to calm the burning hole that had been carved in her heart. "He's not…"

Akihiko slid over to her and wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her some comfort. "I know, Mitsuru. I know."

"He's not…" She said one last time, one last denial before her heart shattered.

Even though she had only known Minato for a couple of months, he had become deathly important to her. He'd become one of her best friends. He'd become a sanctuary for her. With him there beside her, she could be herself and have no fear of repercussion or rebuke.

He set her free.

Now he was gone.

She closed her eyes, despair and anguish encompassing her heart-

All of a sudden, Fuuka shot up from next to Junpei as if he had shocked her. "What the hell?!"

Everyone's heads snapped to her as she quickly stepped back from the teleporter pad and put her Evoker to her head. "Lucia! Show me!" Her Persona formed around her, cocooning her in its familiar shell.

Mitsuru shot up and sprinted next to Fuuka, hope tentatively replacing the despair in her heart. "What is it? Is it him?!"

"I don't know… It's a huge-" Fuuka suddenly cried out in pain and tore herself away from her Persona, causing Lucia to disappear in a flash of blue light.

"Yamagishi!" Mitsuru said concernedly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Fuuka blinked a few times, and then nodded. "That was intense…"

"What was?" Mitsuru asked hotly. "What did you see?"

"I felt a huge buildup of energy on the floor they were on," Fuuka said hesitantly. "I tried to get a better look, but something… exploded. It blinded me for a second."

"Was it Minato?" She said excitedly. "Is he alive?"

"I think so." She said a small smile on her face. "Granted," She said lightly, "It could have been that thing that was after him, but… I doubt it."

"Why's that?" Akihiko asked hesitantly.

"When that darkness was in the room with them, that's all I could see," Fuuka said lightly. "It was like wearing a blindfold. If that thing in there with them was the one who did that… attack… then I probably wouldn't have been able to feel it, let alone see it."

The news sent Mitsuru's heart into flight. "So he's…!" She hesitated to say the words, afraid that she would curse the occurrence.

Fuuka nodded. "I think he's alive."

She needed nothing else. She bolted up the stairs, Akihiko close behind her.

* * *

A few minutes later, the two of them entered the floor where they had lost contact with the ground team. They'd had to fight up several floors in order to reach it, but the two of them had torn through every enemy stupid enough to get in their way.

"Yamagishi, can you sense him?" Mitsuru said, her calm façade tentatively back in position. Inside, however, she was a mess. Hope had given way to fear as the two of them had fought their way back up. What if he'd been killed in the blast Fuuka had mentioned? What if he'd been wounded so badly that he'd succumbed to his injuries before they could reach him? A million different scenarios ran through her head, all trying to kill any hope she had of seeing him again.

"_Like I said before, senpai; that blast blinded Lucia. I can feel you, but only because I know where you are. Anything I don't know about for sure is a crapshoot." _

Mitsuru smiled at Fuuka's cursing. It seemed like Minato had been rubbing off on her a bit.

"**He's been rubbing off on all of us," **Penthesilea said in her mind, startling Mitsuru slightly. Her Persona rarely talked to her since their thoughts and opinions were so similar. Still, the thought filled her with determination.

He was too important to die; He meant too much to all of them.

"In that case," Akihiko said, his voice intense, "Can you guide us to where the blast occurred?"

"_Oh yeah. That place has probably been seared into my brain for the rest of my life." _Fuuka said blithely as she sent them the location.

Akihiko's face fought to keep its composure as they walked, but, after a few seconds, he blurted, "Fuuka, I didn't know you were such a... a... smartass!"

"_Oh, Oh god, I'm so sorry, senpai! I meant no disrespect!" _She exclaimed timidly. _"It's just… I've gotten so used to talking to Minato on these trips, and he's always so… sarcastic to me, that I kind of had to… adapt."_

He burst into laughter as the two of them rounded a corner. "It's alright, Fuuka," Akihiko said lightly, "I understand."

"_God, I hope he's ok." _She said heavily.

"We'll be able to tell you in a second." Akihiko said as he and Mitsuru rounded the corner to the last corridor.

As they started their walk down the long corridor, they saw that the walls had gradually increasing scorch marks on them.

"What the hell happened here?" Akihiko said, before quickly clasping his hand over his mouth. The look on Mitsuru's face was heartbreaking; he could see the hope fading from her eyes.

"Whatever happened here came from that room," She said in a low voice, "and it's clear that it was extremely destructive." Her eyes lowered to her shoes. "I don't think-"

All of a sudden, a loud bang echoed down the corridor, causing both of them to whip out their Evokers in alarm.

"What was- Mitsuru!" Akihiko said as Mitsuru suddenly took off down the corridor, running as fast as she could. He took off after her, cursing under his breath.

The sounds of a battle got louder as they got closer to the end of the corridor. They were about to turn the corner to the room when a large, muscled Shadow flew past them and impacted the wall before bursting into a puddle of shadowy gore. Mitsuru's face brightened visibly as she and Akihiko turned the corner.

"Minato!" She exclaimed happily.

As they turned the corner however, they did not see what they expected to see.

They expected to see a smirking blue haired boy, scuffed up, but unharmed, sardonic comment at the ready.

What they found was a blue haired boy lying on the ground, unmoving and hurt, but alive nonetheless.

What was more surprising, however, was the familiar Reaper-like Persona hanging over his head, weapon covered in black Shadow gore.

If he'd seen it from a distance, Akihiko would have sworn this was the same Persona that had destroyed the Magician Shadow all those months ago. The general features were all the same: It had the same red, unfeeling eyes, a large, brutish weapon, and a half-ring of objects forming an intimidating cloak around its body.

That was where the similarities ended, however.

The body of the Persona reminded him of Jehuty. It had the same robotic look and feel, with blade-like protrusions resembling feathers fanning out from its arms. The bear trap-like maw had been replaced with the sleek head of a jackal. His weapon, a large serrated katana, had been replaced with an elegant spear. The ring of coffins had been replaced with several elegant wings, all opening and closing in a robotic fashion. The blue duster that had flapped over the Persona's back had been replaced with a long, flowing tail.

And when their surprise had finally worn off, the Persona turned and spoke to them.

"**Help him… Please…"**

It then folded its arms, and shimmered out of existence.

* * *

_Minato crossed his arms, anger barely contained. "Explain. Now."_

"_Better grab a seat then," Pharos said sardonically as he reappeared inside the dreamspace. _

_"Cause it's gonna be a long story."_

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

_**Hoo, boy. This was a loooong wait wasn't it? I'm so, so, SO sorry about that, guys. I had a huge setup that I wanted to plan for some plot points that I thought were super important… And couldn't figure out how to make it work without it being really, really, lame. So instead of trying something else like a normal person, I put writing this off for months, hoping I would just figure it out. Well, I did… by dropping the sub plot entirely. Please don't be sad; It was going to be dumb, guys, trust me. Anyways, that combined with lots of real life stuff I had to deal with, means I dropped off the face of the earth for a while. I'm back now, though! Kinda… I know where I want to go with this story now… but I don't have nearly as much time to write as I once did, which is why this chapter is kinda short compared to the others. **_

_**Anyways, enough of my whining. Shit got kinda dark in this one, huh? I hope that this chapter had enough twists and turns for you guys! Things will get pretty interesting in the next couple of chapters, that's for sure. As always, thank you for reading and for continuing to show interest in this little thing I like to put some of my free time into. I especially want to thank everyone who's followed and favorited over the past couple months: You guys are awesome! So anyways, I hope to have another chapter of similar or larger length done by the end of next week… So if I don't deliver, come knock on my door with the torches and pitchforks. Or a PM. That works too. **_

_**As always, please leave a review if you liked or didn't like this chapter, and please PM me if you have any questions or concerns! Till next chapter! – Dr. Ninja**_

_**PS: The new Persona is based off of the ANUBIS frame from ZOE as well. I thought that that him and Thanatos looked remarkably similar. Hmmm… :D**_

_**PPS: The Reaper was speaking Greek, by the way… Special thanks to Marvey4 for helping with the translation!**_


	16. July 28th - 29th

"Dammit!" He exclaimed as he shoved the Evoker back into its holster and turned away from Tartarus. If SEES caught him here, things wouldn't end well for him.

He fumed as he quickly made his way towards home. This had been a complete and unmitigated failure. The Reaper had taken years to regain its strength after being separated from the host, and now, it never would again. The Reaper (and by extension, the other fragments it had absorbed,) and its power had been totally absorbed by the fragment. All that was left was a shell of a shadow, a hole that constantly tugged at the back of his mind.

All his years of planning, hardship, and pain had been ruined in the blink of an eye.

The plan had been perfect; Attack the vessel's friends, get him alone, and then kill him and take the fragment. Things had gone perfectly… right until that brat had broken the rules. _"The boy refused the contract, and so, he cannot be granted the fragment's powers. This will make him easy prey…"_

That was what the Reaper had told him, and yet the boy had done exactly that. He'd assumed the appearance of the boy's Persona had been an assurance of that fact, but obviously he'd been wrong.

He sighed in defeat. At least the back-up plan was still in effect. Perhaps _they_ could still retrieve the fragment that was hidden within the boy. They had to. Without the Reaper, it was the only hope he had left to pull off his objective with little fuss.

He smirked. One way or another, the fragment would be released from its prison.

After all, Death could never be completed without it.

* * *

"_So," Minato said matter-of-factly, "Stop me if I get this wrong: The thing that came out of me that night on the roof…That was you?" Pharos nodded hesitantly, and Minato scowled. "Then why the hell would you tell me some bullshit about it being made up of some of my "repressed emotions," or something like that? Why not just tell me the truth?"_

"_Be honest, Minato," Pharos said lightly. "If I had said during our first meeting, "Hey, remember that Persona that came out of you tonight and scared you half to death? Yeah, that was me," would you have trusted me at all?"_

"_Hell no," Minato scoffed, "I'd have asked how the hell you got in my head, cause you definitely aren't a part of my subconscious, which, by the way, is my next question. What are you and what are you doing in my head?"_

"_This is exactly why I didn't tell you before." Pharos said exasperatedly. "Look, you need to trust me on this, Minato; I. Want. To. Help. you."_

"_I noticed you still haven't answered my question."_

"_Fine." Pharos sighed and said, "I don't know how I got in your head yet, but I have figured out what I am… or was, rather."_

"_What?"_

"_I am…" He swallowed nervously. "Rather, I __**was**__… a fragment of the personification of Death itself." _

_Minato's jaw dropped. Pharos threw up his hands in exasperation. "See, I told the old man this would end poorly… Relax, Minato. I can't actually harm you while I'm in here, nor do I wish to."_

_Minato's mouth tried to form words, but he couldn't get his brain to work properly. His world had been completely flipped around. He had Death incarnate inside of him? How? Why? A million different questions ran through Minato's head, but before he could ask any of them, he felt his grasp on the dreamscape slip, and Pharos's image started to swim. Pharos noticed, and stood up concernedly._

"_Minato, I promise you, the next time you come here, I will have answers for you!" Pharos shouted as he drifted further and further away. "For now, know this: I mean you no harm!"_

_The room faded to black._

* * *

July 28th, 2009

* * *

A steady beeping sound greeted him as he awoke. He slowly opened his eyes to see the sun streaming through the windows to his left, highlighting a familiar white tiled roof overhead. Groaning, he quickly shut them again.

_Great, back in the hospital. I can't go a month without a visit, can I? Well, to be fair, I did just find out I have a part of freaking Death making a home inside my subconscious, so maybe that's part of the problem._

So many things had happened in the past day, and he was still reeling from it all. That creature, the battle, Pharos… He was a part of Death? What was his end goal? How had he gotten inside of Minato's mind? The Shadows themselves were abstract beings; maybe Pharos _was _a personification of the self-loathing and suicidal thoughts he'd had up until a few months ago.

He shook his head in exasperation. The only way he'd find out what Pharos was for sure, would be to ask him. He had promised to answer Minato's questions the next time they met… but Minato had no control over when he entered the dreamscape, so that could potentially take a while.

"Minato-kun?" said a curious feminine voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.

His eyes shot open and he sat up in alarm. Aigis was standing at the foot of his bed, her eyes wide with concern. He immediately noticed two points of concern.

First, her presence no longer sent his gut into its best imitation of a centrifuge. Perhaps between fighting alongside her and nearly dying to save her, his instincts had finally caught up to what his brain already knew; he could trust her.

Second, Aigis was still bearing most of the damage she had sustained during the fight. A massive pile of guilt, remorse, and anger settled into his gut as he took in her damaged condition.

_What the hell is she thinking coming here so damaged?!_

"Aigis?" he said angrily, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting repaired?"

The concern she showed quickly disappeared, and she bowed her head apologetically. "Yes. I should be. Forgive me." She turned to leave, and somehow, watching her turn away caused his guilt to get worse.

"Wait!" He called out. She flinched visibly, then stopped and turned back.

Her demeanor had become cold and robotic once again. "Is there something else you require, Minato-kun?" She asked with no emotion whatsoever, causing Minato to flinch. He'd definitely hurt her, asking her to leave him behind. She'd thought he was dead, for god's sakes. Whether it was programming or legitimate concern, she felt genuinely guilty about leaving him behind.

And he'd been upset because she cared enough to put off her own health to make sure he was ok.

_Way to be an asshole, Minato…_

"Aigis, first off, I want to say that I'm sorry," He said, eyes dropping to her feet. "I've treated you like crap ever since I met you, and for no discernable reason. I've mistrusted you, and made your life as hard as I possibly could, and for that, I am sorry."

He felt his anxiety begin to return, but he forced it down. He was the one at fault here, not her. "I also hurt you by asking you to leave me with that… thing." He saw her feet shuffle uncomfortably, and he winced. "I'm not sorry for trying to save your life, but I am sorry that I hurt you, Aigis. That was unfair of me to abuse your trust like that."

She didn't respond, causing him to swallow nervously. "Finally," he said remorsefully, "I'm sorry I snapped at you just now. I was just worried about you. You're obviously hurt, and… I don't want you to suffer because of me anymore. You didn't ask to be programmed to protect me, so I should at least be more respectful of that."

"If you would like…" He said as he looked back up at her face, "Maybe we could start over?"

Aigis' cold exterior melted away, leaving the familiar balance of curiosity and warmth that he'd come to expect from her. She smiled brightly at him… then tilted her head to the side in confusion. "I do not understand," she said lightly, "How can we 'start over'? As far as I am aware, time travel does not exist, and-"

She was cut off by Minato's bark of laughter. He shook his head in amusement and said, "I meant figuratively, Aigis." When her look of confusion grew, he added, "When someone says that they want to start over, they want to start their relationship over by ignoring how they initially treated each other. That way, your relationship in the future isn't affected by the things that you may or may not have done to each other in the past."

She blinked confusedly for a moment and then nodded slowly. "I comprehend. You wish to create a new relationship with me, not dictated by any actions that we have took in the past. To 'start over'."

He nodded, smiling. "Got it in one."

At that moment, the door to his room opened and Mitsuru stepped in, flanked by two men in suits. "I thought you would be here, Aigis." She nodded to the two men and they stepped behind Aigis. "Take her back to Kirijo HQ. Make sure that she's tuned up as well as repaired. We'll need her back in action as soon as possible."

The two men nodded in acknowledgement, and gestured for Aigis to walk out of the room. She turned to Minato, who offered an encouraging grin. "Get fixed up. I promise not to get myself killed any time soon."

He had meant it as a joke, but he couldn't help but notice the flinch that Mitsuru gave at his words. Aigis didn't appear to notice, however. She nodded back to him with a small smile on her face, and then stepped past Mitsuru and out the door, the guys in suits shadowing her.

* * *

As Mitsuru closed the door behind them, Minato took a shaky breath. The temperature in the room had dropped noticeably since she had entered, and now that they were alone, it was downright frosty. "So," he said shakily, "How are Junpei and Yukari?"

_Good plan, moron. Putting this conversation off isn't going to make it hurt any less for either of you._

She turned around and gave him the iciest glare he had ever seen, sending shivers down his spine. "Iori has a nice set of bruises, but is otherwise fine," She said, her tone clipped, "Yamagishi is with him right now. Yukari is physically unharmed, but exhausted. She's back at the dorm, resting. You, on the other hand…"

Somehow, she managed to turn up the intensity of her glare by several notches, and Minato shrank away from it instinctively. "You had several large contusions on your extremities, consistent with grazing shots from a firearm, and a heavy concussion when we found you in Tartarus."

Minato's eyes widened as he finally noticed the bandages covering his arms. "So that was real…?" So much of what had happened after the team had left had seemed like a dream to him. When he'd woken up, he had thought it was a dream. What was strange about it was that he didn't feel like he'd gotten his ass kicked. In fact, he felt pretty good right now… though it remained to be seen if he would stay that way, based on how this conversation was going.

"Well," he stated nervously, "The doctors did a pretty good job fixing me up, huh? I don't even feel hurt right now."

"Don't feel hurt?" She said icily, and he knew that he had said the exact wrong thing. "You were lucky to still be breathing when we found you!" She said, her voice growing in volume. "If it hadn't been for that… thing watching over you, the Shadows would have gotten to you before we could have!"

He stared at her in terror as she began to stalk toward him menacingly. He put his hands up pleadingly. "L-Look, Mitsuru, I-I'm really-"

"You," she said, cutting him off, "are an insufferable, arrogant, self-centered jackass!" She let out a loud and angry noise of frustration before charging straight at him. He threw up his arms instinctually in an attempt to defend himself, but she quickly batted his arms out of the way and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The blow snapped his head to the side and caused his ears to start ringing.

"Ow!" He yelled as he turned back to her, rubbing his face. He could understand why she was upset, but this was taking it a bit too far. "Jeez, are you trying to give me another concussion?!"

"Maybe I should!" She said angrily. "It might knock some sense into that thick head of yours!"

"_I'm_ thick?!" He yelled back, anger seeping into his own tone. Now she was just being nasty. He put his hand next to his head like a phone. "Hello, Pot, this is Kettle, over!"

"What?!" She shrieked at him, taken aback. "I'm not the one who decided to take on a Death Shadow on my own!"

"No, but who decided that it would be a good idea to bully me out of SEES just because they thought I would be too much trouble to train!?"

"I didn't even know you back then, and besides, you essentially blackmailed your way on to my team!"

"So? Who does that kind of thing? I offered to help you guys out, and you basically said I wasn't good enough!"

"You…! You…!" She fumed, trying to come up with an appropriate response before she gave up and launched herself at him again. This time, instead of hitting him, she wrapped her arms around him and mashed her lips against his.

There was nothing romantic about this kiss. Mitsuru was kissing him with such passion and fervor and need that it was stealing Minato's breath away, as if her lips were trying to convey what her voice could not. He could feel all the sadness, despair, joy, anger, need, and anxiety that she had experienced in every moment since they'd separated at the entrance the previous night.

When he had made that decision to sacrifice himself for his friends, it had been a simple math problem to him. Four definitely dead versus one probably dead had sounded pretty simple in his head. What he hadn't thought about, what he hadn't _let_ himself think about, was what it would do to those who survived him if he did perish. It was pretty clear now how Mitsuru would have felt, not to mention Aigis, but what about his other friends? What about Gramps and Naoto? How would they have reacted to his passing? He shuddered to think about it.

He wrapped his arms tighter around Mitsuru, pulling her closer to hide the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. For 10 years, he had thought about nothing but death and those it touched, fighting to give justice to those whom death had taken and taken from. Hell, even now, he was fighting to prevent the deaths of thousands of innocent people by putting his own life at risk. The concept of death had followed him for most of his life. It had poisoned and infected an important part of him, perhaps even the most important part: His will to live.

He had always thought of himself as a protector, someone willing to surround himself with death to protect others from it. He'd always thought that if he died protecting others, then it was a worthy sacrifice. He'd taken that feeling to heart so much, that it had prevented him from seeing the problem it inherently provided.

If death took him, what happened to everyone else? Who would protect them when he was gone?

In order to survive the crippling depression and cynicism his life had saddled him with, he'd had to reach out and connect with other people on the deepest level he could. In order to make sure that death did not swallow him completely, he needed to live, to be happy and enjoy all that life had to offer.

And that was exactly the problem.

How much would he be willing to sacrifice now he knew how much it would hurt those he left behind?

It was a double edged sword. He was willing to die to protect others, but wanted to live for those he cared about. Which one was right? Which one was wrong? Should he fight as hard as he can to live, putting himself above others to protect those closest to him? Or should he be willing to lay down his own life so others could live, even at the great cost it would take from those he cared about?

Maybe there was no right answer. For today though, he and his friends had made it through, and Minato could be happy with that.

As Mitsuru pulled away, her eyes glistening with tears, she said in a low, warm voice, "If you _ever _do something like this again, I'll _execute_ you."

He nodded seriously and grasped her hand in his. "Understood." And he meant it.

He tried to keep the moment serious, he really did, but he couldn't help himself. Escaping death will do that to you. After a moment of solemn silence, Minato smirked devilishly and said, "Wait, how are you going to be able to execute me if I'm already dead?"

She blinked in confusion for a moment, then shook her head in exasperation and groaned, causing Minato to burst into laughter. She put her head in her hands and said in an amused, muffled voice, "Your timing is the worst!"

He simply laughed harder.

* * *

The sound of Minato's laughter carried across the hall, causing Fuuka to sigh in relief. "Thank god. I was afraid she'd kill him."

"Me too, based on the way she was screaming at him." Junpei added as he stepped into the bathroom to change back into his street clothes. "Please tell me that you weren't that angry when I showed up unconscious?" he said as he closed the door behind him.

She chuckled. "No, but I could tell you were still alive. Mitsuru-senpai didn't have that luxury at the time. I can understand why she was so angry though."

"Oh, really?" Junpei replied through the door, pain seeping into his tone as he pulled his clothes on gingerly. "Why is that?"

"She's finally found someone she can count on," She replied, "And he was almost taken from her. I'd be upset too."

The door to the bathroom opened and Junpei stepped out, his walk stiff. "Wait," he said, confusedly, "Upset with him, or about him?"

She smirked at him and said, "Both."

"Well, I'll try to keep that in mind the next time we get ambushed by a creepy death monster."

"Who said I was talking about you, Junpei-kun?" She said with a sly look in her eyes and a smile on her face.

Junpei made a wounded noise and put his hand over his heart. "Ugh, that hurts, Fuuka-chan, right here." She laughed, causing him to smile. She quickly crossed over to him to envelop him in a hug. The sudden contact with his bruises caused him to hiss in pain before he sank into the hug.

After a moment, she pulled away, concern in her eyes. "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, I'm fine. Although…" He grimaced. "I know that I promised to take you out tonight, but I don't think I'm up for it." Fuuka's face fell, and he closed his eyes in shame. "I'm really sorry, Fuuka-chan."

"W-Well, I can't really expect you to want to go out when you're in pain, right?" The despondent tone in her voice broke his heart. She was getting better about her self-confidence, but she still obviously thought he was wasting his time with her. He needed to prove to her that she was what he wanted.

He quickly pulled her back into a hug and said, "I want to go out with you, Fuuka, believe me. I mean, honestly, I can't think of anything I would like to do better than spend time with you," He pulled away, and looked into her eyes. "But I don't think that we'd have a good time if both of us are worrying about my health the entire time we're out, right?"

She stared back at him for a few moments then nodded. "In that case," she said lightly, "Maybe I could…"

"Could what?"

"…C-Cook something for you?" She asked nervously, and Junpei's eyes widened in surprise. She immediately launched into a nervous babble, mistaking his expression for fear. "I mean, that way you can rest at the dorm while I make the food, and we don't have to worry about paying for anything but ingredients, and we can just relax and-"

He held up a hand to stop her. "Fuuka, I'd love that!" He replied enthusiastically. "It sounds great, so if you're up for it, then so am I!"

Her face lit up happily. "Of course! I could make curry or maybe some chicken piccata… Hmm…" She said as she slipped into deep thought. Junpei smiled as he watched her contemplate what dishes she wanted to make for him.

Maybe their night together could be salvaged after all!

* * *

After Mitsuru had left for fencing practice later that day, it had taken Minato the rest of the day to convince the doctors that Jehuty had been able to heal all of his wounds past the point of their help. Even after he'd accomplished _that_ goal, they'd still kept him under concussion observation for a few hours, purely out of spite. As such, he was not in the best of moods when he finally reached the dorm later that night.

Tonight was set to be an awkward one, as Ikutsuki was bound to want an explanation as to what the hell happened up in the tower, and, more worrying, how Minato had singlehandedly destroyed a creature that had taken everything the group had dealt out and kept on coming. He didn't really know how to tell them about what Pharos was yet. There was still too much he didn't know about the mysterious boy in his head, and he didn't want to reveal Pharos's true nature to everyone without some definitive answers. Still, he had to come up with some way to explain his presence that didn't sound bat-shit crazy.

Then again, bat-shit crazy pretty much described their lives to a T, so maybe it wouldn't be that much of a stretch.

When he walked in, he saw Mitsuru sitting in the lounge, reading a book. She looked up as he closed the door and smiled at him, closing her book. "Good, you're back."

"No thanks to those meddlesome doctors," Minato grumbled as he plopped down next to her tiredly. "I swear, how many different blood tests do you need to determine if I have a concussion or not?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have been so ornery around them when they told me to leave," She suggested sarcastically. "Then they wouldn't have gone out of their way to keep you there."

"Freaking hospitals and their freaking doctors with their freaking needles…" he mumbled. "It's a travesty that hospitals have to exist."

"Not all of us have the ability to heal our wounds almost instantaneously, Minato." She said with a smile on her face. "Give them a little credit. They're just doing their jobs."

"I guess…" He sighed. "So, is the Chairman here yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. He said that he was going to check on Aigis' repairs, and that he'd be here within the hour."

"Great." He breathed out nervously. He really wasn't looking forward to this.

"Minato…" Mitsuru said hesitantly, "I didn't want to bring this up earlier, but… What was that thing that was protecting you up there? It resembled your Persona, but… wasn't."

So that's what she'd meant earlier today. He'd hoped that Pharos had made himself scarce after defeating the Reaper, but apparently, Minato wasn't that lucky. The little punk was still making his life harder. He stared back at her anxiously. What could he do here? He couldn't lie to her, not without losing her trust, but he also didn't want to come across as crazy either.

_Damned if you do, damned if you don't… Story of my freaking life…_

"I don't know exactly what Pharos is," He said after a moment. "All I know is that he says he wants to protect me."

"It… or rather, he… talks to you?" She asked in surprise.

He nodded. "I have these strange lucid dreams sometimes. We have conversations about…well… all sorts of different things. About the Dark Hour, the Full Moon Shadows, my past and missing memories…" He glanced at her guiltily. "…Even my personal life."

She stared at him suspiciously. "How long have you been having these… dreams?"

"Since using the Evoker," He answered truthfully. "But I met him on my first night here."

"What? Where?" She asked, alarmed. He pointed straight at the reception desk across from them, and she shook her head in recognition. "Hah, so that's why you looked so lost when Yukari found you that night. You were just as confused as we were…"

"Mitsuru, I'm telling you all of this because I trust you, wholly and completely." Minato said gravely. "Believe me, it was never my intention to keep any of this from you, but…" He shook his head and snorted. "Think about how crazy this sounds! I have an imaginary friend who talks to me in my dreams that, as it turns out now, isn't so imaginary. I mean, I didn't even know that he was _real_ until last night, and on that you have my word."

He looked at the floor guiltily. "You guys already thought I was crazy once, so I'm not so keen on going back to that assumption."

She looked at him for a moment then sighed. "I trust you too, Minato, and I know you aren't crazy. So just answer me this: Is he a danger to you or anyone else?"

"Pharos _is_ dangerous. You've seen that for yourself," he admitted, "but he's also… limited. He was only able to manifest himself _with_ my permission, and only when I was in severe danger. Otherwise, he only appears to me in some of my dreams. So all in all… No, I don't think so. He's been nothing but helpful." He sighed again. "Then again, I just don't know enough about him to be completely confident about that either."

"In that case," she sighed, "I see no problem with it for now. It's simply another mystery of the Dark Hour that we must solve." He let out a sigh of relief and she smiled at him. "He saved your life, so I feel that gives him the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you, Mitsuru. It means a lot." He smiled as he added, "He's promised to give me some answers the next time I see him, so there's something."

"There you go," She said teasingly, "Thinking pragmatically."

He burst into laughter, and she followed soon after. How he'd gotten blessed with such a good friend was baffling to him. As a detective, he had a tendency to assume the worst whenever something bad came up. She, somehow, defied all his expectations by showing him that life wasn't as bad as he assumed.

_Great, now I want to kiss her, and Ikutsuki's probably gonna walk in right now._

At that moment, Ikutsuki walked in, a large smile on his face. "Ah, Minato-kun! I'm glad to see that you're alright. Are you two ready?"

_I freaking knew it!_

The two teens looked at each other, one nervous, the other encouraging. Mitsuru nodded, and said, more to Minato than Ikutsuki, "Yes, we're ready."

_I sure hope so…_

* * *

"So where's Junpei?" Yukari asked as the team settled down in the command room for their debriefing. She'd seen him and Fuuka hanging out in the kitchen when she'd woken up a few hours ago, but now the teen was conspicuously absent.

Fuuka turned bright red. "Oh, he's just resting. He said that he wasn't feeling too well and for us to start without him."

_Oh, if only that were the truth._

Their evening had started out so well, too. Junpei had been so sweet and nice, and everything had been going perfectly, with tons of laughter and smiling… and then she'd ruined it by making him taste her cooking. The moment the food touched his tongue, he'd instantly turned an unpleasant shade of green and quickly spit it out into a napkin. He'd tried to spare her feelings with words of reassurance, but when he'd refused to answer her when she'd told him to come out of his room for the team meeting, she knew she'd screwed up. She just hoped she could make it up to him later…

"Very well then. If the rest of you are ready?" Ikutsuki asked genially. The rest of the group nodded, and Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "First of all, I'm glad that all of you are alright… relatively speaking. I checked on Aigis before heading over here and her repairs are coming along nicely. She should be back in a couple of days, good as new." A round of smiles went through the room before Ikutsuki continued. "Now, concerning the attack that took place in Tartarus… I'm still a little fuzzy on details."

"What would you like to know, Ikutsuki-san?" Yukari asked.

"What exactly happened to you up there?" He shook his head. "I've never heard of a Shadow that has actively hunted us apart from the Full-Moon Shadows a few months ago. What did you notice about it, Fuuka-chan?"

"From what little I could actually glean from the creature," Fuuka said, her tone professional, "It was of the Death Arcana, and was very targeted in who it wanted to kill."

All the SEES members in the room turned to look at Minato, who shirked away from their looks instinctively. "Jesus, mind warning a guy before you guys do something like that?" When no one replied to his quip, he added, "Seriously, I could develop a complex, you know."

Mitsuru's developing glare had a clear message in it: Stop stalling. "Fine," he sighed, "I have no idea why it was after me, so asking me that is a pointless question." He narrowed his eyes at Ikutsuki. "…Unless this is an interrogation?"

"Now, now, Minato-kun," Ikutsuki said reproachfully, "We aren't suspecting you of anything. You've shown your loyalty and dedication several times over, and what you did for the rest of the team…" He shook his head in admiration. "That is one brave thing you did. Your grandfather would be proud."

Luckily, Ikutsuki missed Mitsuru and Minato's shared flinch. "Anyways, the report said it talked to you," Ikutsuki said lightly.

He smirked. "Yeah, in Greek, a language I recognize, but have no faculty in. I have no idea what the hell he said any more than anyone else here."

"Very well… We know what happened to the team after you sent them back to the lobby, but you are the only one who can fill in the gap, so…" Ikutsuki inhaled then exhaled deeply. "What happened after you sent them away?"

Minato took a deep breath. "Well, I don't remember a whole lot after a certain point, but…"

* * *

_The flash of green light signaling his teammates' departure sent his heart into free fall. Without them, he didn't have much of a chance, but at least only one person would die tonight. He heard the click of the creature's revolver being cocked behind his head, and something inside him snapped. He wasn't going to let this piece of garbage hurt his friends like that, and then kill him without a fight. That wasn't how he rolled._

_Almost instinctively, he dove to the side, watching as the bullet slammed into the teleporter pad's control panel, causing it to smoke and spark. He rolled and came up from the dive on his feet, his hand already pointing at his head. _

"_Jehuty!"_

_His Persona shimmered into existence a moment later, his blade already extended. With a gesture, he sent Jehuty at the monster in a full frontal attack._

_If the creature was surprised at his defiance, it sure hid it well. Its shoulders started to jostle up and down in the motion that he'd started to associate with its laughter, and it brought its revolver up to block the strike from the Persona, just like before. Minato had learned his lesson from last time though. Drawing his rapier from its sheath, he charged at the creature from a different angle. When the creature blocked Jehuty's strike, Minato's struck true, driving the blade of the rapier down to the hilt, straight into its body._

_The creature hissed in pain as a small jet of black blood spurted out around the blade, and then swung its other revolver around at blinding speed. He had no time to dodge, and ended up taking the blow right in the temple. _

_When his world had finally stopped spinning, he saw the creature standing directly over him, its revolvers pointed straight at his head. It snarled something in Greek, and then pulled the triggers._

_Time stopped. _

_A familiar voice called out. "You know, one of these days, I'm not going to be able to help you with one of these things. What are you going to do then?"_

* * *

"Wait, you recognized who called out to you?" Ikutsuki asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"Yeah," Minato chuckled. "It'll make sense in time, believe me."

* * *

"_Pharos?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"_

_A familiar head of hair slipped into his unstable vision. Pharos was standing over him, a smug grin on his face. "What I've been wanting to do from the beginning: Help you. Why do you have to make it as hard as possible for me?"_

"_What can I say? I'm a bit of an asshole sometimes." Despite his glib comment, Minato felt his vision becoming watery as his grip on the world loosened. He was losing consciousness. "Sorry buddy, but I'm checking out here…" He said as his eyes started to close._

_Pharos made a tutting noise. "Ah, ah, ah, I can't have you passing out yet. Jehuty, help out your clumsy master, would you?" With that command, Jehuty appeared next to them and looked down at his master._

"_**You're awfully slow. I would have dodged that blow no problem."**_

"_Bite me, bird-brain. Not all of us have rocket boosters shoved up our ass." Minato said with a weak laugh. His Persona mirrored his chuckle, then let the familiar warm green wave emit from his body. Instantly, Minato felt his head clear and his vision snap into focus. He made a movement to try and get up, but Pharos held him down. _

"_Not yet. I can only hold this level of time dilation for a few minutes, and you aren't 100 percent yet. You had a severe concussion, and, as good as Jehuty is, he can't heal that kind of damage all the way without some downtime."_

_Now that his head was clear, he finally noticed what was going on. Pharos was __**here**__, in the physical world, interacting with things. "You… You… aren't just some figment of my imagination, are you?" he asked lamely._

_Pharos lowered his head in shame. "…No. I'm not. I'm sorry for lying to you, but it was the only way to get you to trust me enough to-"_

_All of a sudden, Pharos gripped his head in pain. "Ugh!"_

"_Pharos, what's wrong?" Minato said as he hopped to his feet, a little unsteadily. It seemed that Pharos had been right; he definitely wasn't 100 percent yet. Pushing the throbbing in his head aside, he stumbled over to Pharos's side. The kid was mumbling something too low for Minato to hear. He leaned in, right as Pharos raised his voice just enough to be heard._

"_Head hurts… Need to help him…"_

_A sudden cracking noise sent a wave of pain through Minato's head, and Pharos instantly disappeared. The creature, which had been frozen in time, started to move again, albeit slowly. Despite the loud cracking reverberating through out the room, a faint voice could be heard at the back of his mind. _

"_**Listen, we don't have a lot of time. He's going to get unfrozen and kill us any minute now, so I'm going to make this quick… Use the Evoker. It's our only chance."**_

"_What? Why?" He asked. He got no response, and the cracking noise grew louder as the creature's movements picked up speed. He quickly began glancing around the room. After a second of searching, he located Junpei's Evoker lying on the ground a few feet behind the creature. _

_Minato began stumbling over towards the Evoker, the cracking noise growing in volume with each step he took. As he stepped within a foot of the Evoker, the cracking noise built into a crescendo, causing his throbbing head to burst into pain. He fell to the floor, nausea and vertigo causing him to lose his balance._

_A set of loud cracks sounded out as the gunshots rang out from behind him. Time had evidently resumed its normal pace, which meant he didn't have a lot of time left. He reached out and grasped the Evoker, then flipped over. The creature attempted to bring its guns around to where he had fallen to the floor, but it was too late._

_He leveled the Evoker with his temple and fired._

_A flash of blue and the sound of glass cracking bade farewell to his fleeting consciousness. The sight of a large Persona surrounded by coffins was the last thing that he saw before blacking out._

* * *

As Minato finished his story, he looked around the room. No one made a sound. They were all too shocked. He folded his arms and said, "Well, are you guys going to call me crazy or are you gonna make me wait?"

Akihiko was the first to break the spell. "How long has Pharos been talking to you?" He asked, "And why haven't you told us about him before now?"

"Since I used the Evoker the first time," Minato replied. "And the answer to the second question is quite easy: He was just a voice in my head. You all would have thought I was crazy if I said that a voice in my head was a point of concern."

"A voice in your head that has a very powerful ability," Ikutsuki said reproachfully, "_is_ a point of concern, Minato-kun."

"…This is why I'm bringing it up right now." Minato said with a hint of sarcasm. "If I'd known he was going to turn out to be some kind of weird being living inside my head, I'd have told you all immediately."

"Would you?" Ikutsuki said bitterly. "Your family has a reputation for keeping secrets, after all." All eyes turned to him in surprise. Ikutsuki sounded… angry.

Minato scoffed in amazement. "Okay, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, _Shirogane_." Ikutsuki said, spitting out the name.

"First off, _Shuji_, my name is Arisato, not Shirogane." Minato bit out angrily. "Second, whatever has gone on between you and my grandfather needs to stay there."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll show you just how much like my grandfather I really am!"

"Enough!" Mitsuru's voice cut through the thick tension in the air like a whip. "Arisato, Ikutsuki is your direct superior, and you will show him the respect he deserves."

He grumbled something under his breath, but said, "Very well. I apologize for my words, Ikutsuki-san."

Ikutsuki nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned to smile at Mitsuru. "Thank you for that, Mit-"

An icy glare cut him off. "He was in the right, not you. Whatever issues there are between you and Shirogane-san had better stay there, or my father will be hearing about this incident. Now, apologize."

Ikutsuki glared across the table at Minato before finally saying stiffly, "I apologize, Minato-kun. I was out of line."

"I accept your apology, Ikutsuki-san." Minato said, just as stiffly. "This won't happen again, I take it?"

Something in Ikutsuki's eyes sent a shiver down Minato's spine as he said, "No, it won't."

No one else appeared to notice the look that he had given Minato. They were all too shocked by what had just transpired. Ikutsuki had always been goofy and excited around the team. What had Minato done to set off this kind of reaction from him?

Seeing that no one was liable to want to continue after that debacle, Mitsuru said, "Very well, everyone. We'll adjourn this meeting for now. Dismissed."

* * *

Ikutsuki got up and walked out of the room as quickly as he could, anger seething through him. First killing the Reaper, now this?! The brat was apparently only just getting started ruining his plans, it seemed. If Ikutsuki wanted to reunite Death successfully, he needed his puppets to be unaware of their true role in things. If the Shirogane brat figured out the fragment's true nature and then revealed it to his team…

Ikutsuki's role in SEES would be revealed. His dream would sputter and die.

He snarled and punched the wall. A Shirogane would not kill another one of his dreams. Not this time.

He needed to accelerate their schedule. Things were getting too dangerous for him now.

Ikutsuki quickly walked up to the roof, and then pulled out his mobile phone, inputting a number that he'd purposefully memorized for just such an occasion. The phone ringed twice before a young voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Jin-kun? We need to accelerate the timetable. The brats are getting too close to the truth."

"Plan B?"

"Plan B."

A cruel laugh echoed through the phone's tiny speaker. "Fantastic…"

* * *

July 29th, 2009

* * *

_The second he touched down in the dreamscape, he called out, "Pharos! Where are you?"_

"_**The little one isn't here, master."**_

_Minato whirled around. Jehuty was standing next to a large, glowing blue door, elaborately decorated with gold and silver filigree. He gestured to the door._

"_**He's inside."**_

_He observed the door. He had a feeling like he'd seen this somewhere before… like in a waking dream. Shaking off his amazement, he stepped up to the door and grasped the handle. It was warm to his touch, as if it was welcoming him. He turned the handle, and a burst of blinding light came through the crack in the door, causing him to lose all perception for a moment…_

* * *

**When he finally came to, he found himself in an opulent throne room. There was one large throne in the center of the room, a long blue carpet leading from the throne to the door he had come from. The walls and ceilings were covered in beautiful velvet and blue tapestries. Off to the side of the throne was a round table with a large velvet tablecloth and 3 chairs. 2 of the chairs were currently occupied. One was occupied by Pharos. The other one was occupied by a man in a mask with a blue butterfly on the forehead. **

**The man had hair in similar color to his, bound up into a ponytail on the back of his head. He wore a white suit jacket with black slacks, shoes and shirt. Something about him felt so familiar to Minato…**

**After a moment, the man in the mask finally noticed Minato, and stood up, smiling brightly.**

"**Hello, Minato. It's nice to finally meet you."**

**Minato shook his head in utter confusion. "Who are you, and where the hell are we?"**

**The masked man snorted in amusement. "You may call me… Philemon. As for where we are?" He chuckled lightly, as if it was a stupid question.**

"**Welcome… to the Velvet Room."**

**.**

**.**

**. **

_**Oh, man, I got chills writing that last part. **_

_**Things are starting to look like they're going pear-shaped, huh? **_

_**As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter or if you have any criticisms, and PM me if you have any questions or concerns that you would like me to address.**_

_**See you next time!**_

_**-Dr. Ninja**_


	17. July 29th

The sound of rapid beeping in his head slowly built into a crescendo that threatened to split his head open if he didn't address it soon. Despite his incoming headache, he refused to open his eyes. He needed sleep. He felt as if he'd been awake for days, and he'd be damned if this infuriating noise would prevent him from achieving REM sleep. Unfortunately, the beeping eventually grew to such a loud volume that he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"I'm up!" He groaned angrily, opening his eyes to take in his surroundings. It was the Dark Hour, as evidenced by the sickly green color the air took on. That meant that it had only been about an hour since he'd left the meeting and fallen 'asleep'. In addition to this already upsetting fact, the insufferable beeping was still resonating shrilly in his head.

He pursed his lips and counted to 5, attempting to stamp down the irrational anger that built every time he'd been woken up unnaturally. When that inevitably failed to calm him, however, he sat up and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I said I was up already, dammit! Fuuka, turn that thing off before I come up there and break the damn thing!"

At once, the beeping shut off, and a terrified voice resonated throughout his head. _"S-Sorry to wake you, senpai! I-It's just… T-There's s-something urgent going on up here, so please m-meet us on the 4__th__ floor…"_

Hearing Fuuka's terrified voice in his head calmed his anger immediately. She was just doing her job, so to speak, so taking his anger out on her was pointless and rude. He sighed and said, "Sorry I yelled, Fuuka. I know it's not your fault. Forgive me?"

"…_It's ok, Senpai. I forgive you."_

He smiled and said in a sing-song tone, "I don't know if you mean that… I might have to give you a hug when I get up there…"

A small laugh echoed throughout his brain. "_I'll never turn down a free hug." _

"Ok, then. It's a deal."

"_Deal." _As Minato flipped his covers off, her familiar presence entered his brain again. "_Hey, can I ask you a favor? Can you… get Junpei up for me?"_

"Uh, sure," Minato said as he pulled on his shirt, "But why? Are you two doing ok?"

"_Uh…I don't know…" _She replied with an uncertain tone.

He cringed. "Ok, never mind, forget I asked. That's your business." He sighed and nodded. "I'll get him up for you, no problem."

A wave of gratitude came through the link. _"Thanks, senpai. I appreciate it."_

"Yeah, yeah, now get out of my head. I'm changing."

Before the link closed with a snap, he felt a wave of embarrassment flow through, causing him to chuckle. "Nice to know something's still normal with the world."

"_**Yeah, but that's just an idle fantasy, huh? Nothing's ever going to be normal for you again."**_

His smile slid off of his face as that fact sunk in. Pharos was right. As he went over the dream he'd experienced, Minato found himself wishing that it was just that; a dream. He so dearly wanted it to be some kind of sick fabrication from his overactive subconscious.

Unfortunately, as he thought back on everything he'd been told, the less he felt he could deny it. He couldn't afford to deny it, despite every instinct in his body screaming at him to dig his head in the sand and hide. He couldn't hide, because if he did, the world was doomed…

* * *

**Earlier, in the Velvet Room…**

* * *

A snort of amusement escaped Minato as he said, "'The Velvet Room?' You say that like I'm supposed to know what that is."

"I suppose not." Philemon said, tilting his head in acknowledgement. "The Velvet Room is a special place. It skirts the boundaries of mind and matter, dream and reality." A small grin appeared on the masked man's face. "You know, your appearance here is rather auspicious. Only rare individuals have ever been invited here before, and it is even rarer for one who hasn't yet signed a contract."

"Well, if you don't mind my asking," Minato said as he looked around the room, taking in the opulent décor, "What is the point of this room if no one ever sees it?"

"This is my domain," Philemon said matter-of factly. "I have power here, and as such, it is a great place for my Chosen to receive guidance and assistance, when needed."

"Chosen?" Minato snorted in amusement. "You make it sound like you're some kind of god, choosing people to spread your word or something like that."

Philemon gave him a knowing smile. "Yes… something like that… Ah!" He shook his head in self-reproach. "Where are my manners? Would you care to take a seat?"

He nodded, then walked over and sat next to Pharos, who gave him a wide smile. Minato returned it and settled in next to him. Philemon mirrored him, settling into his own seat. "Hey, Pharos," Minato said curiously, "why didn't you tell me about this place before? I mean, aside from the obvious reason of that it would have sounded crazy and insane…"

Pharos snorted amusedly and looked at Philemon pointedly. "Contractual obligations. The old man here didn't want you to know about this place until I was done with my contract."

"What?" Minato said confusedly.

"It's a long story." Minato gave him a piercing look, and the boy sighed in exasperation. "…When you refused my contract on that first night, I started to wander around inside your subconscious, looking for a purpose or something profound like that. If I'm honest, I was just lost, figuratively and literally." He gave Minato a small grin. "Your subconscious is huge, by the way. Anyways, long story short, I ended up in here, the old man here offered to help me find out who I was, but at a price; my signature on a contract."

"Wait… You actually signed a contract that a mysterious stranger you met in a strange and unknown place offered you?" Minato chuckled. "And you questioned my life choices…"

"Yeah, that's right, rub it in. I see the irony now." Pharos said, smiling. "You were no help at all by the way, since you were busy spending all that time you could've helped me drooling into a pillow." He shrugged. "Luckily, that doesn't matter now, as my contract is at an end as of right… now."

"This is true," Philemon said with a nod. With a flourish of his hands, a leather folio appeared on the desk in front of them. It opened, revealing a piece of paper with elegant, embossed writing making out 3 short sentences.

It said, _'I chooseth this path of my own free will. I will seek a true companion in order to determine my true nature. However, my true nature will be determined by my will, and my will alone.' _Pharos' signature stood out on the dotted line along the bottom.

"I recognize your contract as fulfilled," Philemon said, and with another flourish, the paper evaporated into a mist of light.

Pharos stood up and breathed in deeply. "Well, now that's done, should I leave you two alone to discuss things, old man?"

"Yes, please. Thank you, Pharos."

"Alright then." As he was turning to leave, Pharos put his hand on Minato's shoulder and leaned in. "I promised you answers, so I hope this helps. Good luck." He then walked over to the glowing blue door, and turned the handle. A bright flash of light blinded them momentarily, signaling Pharos' departure. Minato blanched as he watched the door close on its own.

_This wasn't exactly what I was expecting when he said I'd get some answers… but I guess beggars can't be choosers, huh?_

* * *

"Now," Philemon said, clearing his throat, "Onto why you're here, Minato. I assume that you've heard the truth about your guest's unique nature by now?"

Minato nodded and said, "He told me he was a part of Death incarnate, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that literally or not."

"It is true that he is a part of Death," Philemon said lightly. "Although, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Death is a part of him now. You see, Pharos has done something extraordinary, and wholly unheard of for someone like him…" Philemon leaned forward slightly and a smile played across his lips. "He's _changed_."

"So?" Minato said with a confused look on his face. "People do that all the time."

"Yes, _people_ do." Philemon said with a smirk. "However, creatures like Pharos are special. He's just like the Shadows that you fight, a concept made manifest; In this case, the concept he represents is Death."

He shook his head. "You see, a concept like Death only exists by virtue of its own nature. Without that nature, what purpose does it serve? Why does it exist? Above all else in its existence, it cannot _deny _that nature, or else it would cease to exist!"

At this, Philemon smiled. "Pharos however, has done exactly that; He is a concept who has denied the very nature of his own existence and chose to become something more."

"How do you know that for sure?" Minato said warily. "He could be lying to you that he has changed. He certainly lied to me about what he was."

"The contract," Philemon said triumphantly. "By signing it, he proved that he has free will and is bound by his nature no longer. What his nature was, from that point onward, was his to decide. I merely helped him to see that fact."

Minato's jaw dropped in amazement. He glanced at where the boy had been sitting. "How?" He said as his gaze returned to his host, "How is such a thing possible?"

"That…" Philemon said as his face broke out into a huge grin, "…is a fantastic question. How, indeed? I do not know for sure, but I have a theory." He leaned forward, his eyes boring into Minato's. "I believe that it is possible… because of _you_."

Minato stared at him for a few seconds before snorting in disbelief. "I'm flattered and all, but that seems like a bad theory to me."

"Nonetheless," Philemon said, his face unchanging, "That is the conclusion I have come to."

"Come on!" Minato said skeptically. "I mean, why the hell would you think that? What evidence do you have?"

"Well, my dear young detective," Philemon said, leaning back into his chair, "My evidence comes from an experience I had 17 years ago. Specifically, on the day that you were born."

At Minato's look of confusion, his hands pulled apart, and a small ball of light appeared in his hands. It exploded a second later, causing a flash of light that blinded him for a moment. When his vision returned, he was standing in space, with nothing but stars everywhere he looked. It was amazing. Millions upon millions of stars surrounded him, creating a patchwork tapestry of light and darkness.

He gaped all around him at this amazing sight. "Wow… I know a few people who would kill to see something like this."

"Impressed?" Philemon said, suddenly appearing in front of him with a small grin on his face. "Not many ever get to see this place, less than even the Velvet Room."

"Uh, I think everyone can see this place, Philemon." Minato said with a hint of sarcasm. "They just have to look up at night."

"Oh, we aren't in space, Minato." Philemon said lightly. "All around you, is the collective unconscious of humanity, 17 years in the past." He shrugged. "Specifically, the exact date is April 24th, 1992, approximately one second before you were born."

Minato's jaw dropped for what felt like the thousandth time tonight, causing Philemon to laugh heartily. Ignoring the warm laughter from his host, Minato began spinning around, taking in the sights with a new perspective.

"How are we here?" Minato said after a minute, awed.

"I brought us here. As part of my duties, I look after this place. It is called the Sea of Souls." Philemon said as he gestured around him. "This is the place where the soul comes from when a person is born, and where it returns when that person dies. Humanity as a whole is represented by this place; a record of everything you have ever done, and ever will do as a species."

"You mean everyone's fate is recorded here?" Minato said curiously.

"Well, 'Fate' is such an ugly word," Philemon said with a sigh. "This place records all possibilities at once, and saves those that actually happen, if that makes sense. Every conceivable future for every person in the world ever has been recorded here. Every action that has been taken has had an effect on this place and the souls that reside here."

"Wow." Minato said, impressed. "That's a lot of data to collate."

"You have no idea." Philemon said, snorting in amusement. "Either way, I know this place like the back of my hand. It is my job to do so. As such, over the millennia, I have seen every soul that has ever existed or will exist in this world, from now until the end of time..."

He waved his hand again, and another bright light appeared in between the two of them. It sat still for a second… then exploded in a flash of light, blinding him again. Minato began rubbing his eyes heavily a moment later, trying to get his vision to clear.

"Goddamnit, warn me before you do things like that!" He snarled at Philemon as his vision started to clear. He opened his eyes, the world snapping back into focus. "I could go… blind…"

His vision had finally cleared enough to show what the flash had done, and honestly, it was terrifying.

Minato couldn't just point to one cluster and say that it had definitely changed, but he just… knew. The stars, or rather, souls, around him had all unmistakably _changed_ in response to the flash. If this was humanity's collective unconscious, that couldn't be a good thing.

"What the hell was that flash and what did it do?" He said warily.

Philemon smiled brightly. "That flash… was the moment of your birth, Minato. As for what it did…" He gestured around him at the unmistakably different Sea. "You can see the effects."

Minato's heart sank. He did all this? "W-What? How?"

The masked man waved his hands again, and Minato found himself back in the Velvet Room, still seated. Philemon sat back in his chair, enmeshing his hands together.

"As I said before, I have seen every soul that has existed or ever will exist. Every single one… save for yours."

* * *

"What!?" Minato exclaimed, pushing his chair back as he leapt to his feet. "H-How is that possible?"

"I wish I knew." Philemon said with a shrug. "You literally exploded into existence. I have no idea how you even came to exist, and, for me to say that is... worrying."

"No kidding." Minato swallowed nervously. "When someone tells you that they don't know who you are, it's usually seen as an innocent thing. There's usually no sinister connotation behind it, so there's no worry. But when an _omnipotent_ being that has lived for millennia tells you that he doesn't know who you are… That's when it's time to start worrying."

"Quite," Philemon said, chuckling.

Minato's jaw began to tremble. If his birth had done that…"Does that mean that my very existence is dangerous?"

"I don't know. The changes to the Sea have been all encompassing, but I am the only one who could even notice the changes." Philemon said, causing Minato's heart to sink even further. "I can, however, tell you the implications that such a wide change presents."

He looked gravely at the blue-haired boy and said, "It means that when you were born, things that shouldn't have been possible before could occur, purely because of your existence. Anything that you do changes the Sea's entire structure, and as such, changes the entire course of humanity. You can change what has not been changed in millennia. As such, every person in the world has had, and will continue to have their future changed by _you_."

He tilted his head in thought. "It is as if you are like the number zero: A void of endless emptiness, absorbing and consuming all futures in your path… but filled with infinite potential, creating a new set of possibilities out of the old…"

Minato looked down at his feet. He felt sick. After all, it wasn't every day that you got told that you basically bulldozed everyone's future just by being born.

"So why am I here, if I'm so dangerous?" He said with a noticeable tremor in his tone. "Shouldn't you want me dead in case I accidentally break or change something important?"

"No, Minato," Philemon said with a sympathetic grimace, "I do not want you dead, and could not harm you even if I did. It is not my place to interfere. My nature forbids it."

He sighed. "Either way, do not take what I said earlier the wrong way. You have a unique soul, one that is brand new to this world; whatever you do will have a ripple effect across all of humanity because of that. The Sea will change no matter what you do." He gave Minato a small smile. "What change there is, however, can only be decided by you. Only those you purposefully interact with will be affected."

Philemon's smile disappeared and his face became stoic. "This fact, in turn, brings us to the reason why I've brought you here."

Minato's gaze shot back up to the masked man sitting in front of him. "Why?"

Philemon sat forward and meshed his hands together. "I've chosen you to help me stop a grave threat to Humanity's future."

"What?!" Minato said shrilly, barely able to keep himself from yelling. "What do you mean?"

"The Sea of Souls has begun darkening." Philemon continued gravely. "This means that the possible futures of every single person in the world are being stripped away, and beginning to coalesce into one definite future, one definitive conclusion for every person on the planet. Needless to say, this is not good." He looked Minato straight in the eyes. "I want you to stop this, by any means necessary. Your ability to change the Sea's outcomes makes you the only one who can accomplish this task."

He gaped at Philemon for a good minute before his brain reengaged. He felt anger bubbling up in his chest. He didn't ask for this! He didn't ask to be chosen! Besides, he was already dealing with something life-threatening. He didn't need this on top of it. "In case you haven't noticed," Minato said bitterly, "I'm already dealing with a grave threat to humanity. It's called the Dark Hour, and that's the battle I _chose_ to fight. It wasn't chosen for me. Get someone else to do your dirty work." With that said, he turned to leave.

"Yes, admittedly, the Dark Hour _is_ a threat," Philemon said patiently from behind him, "But it is only one part, one aspect, of a much larger threat. The very same threat I wish for you to stop."

His heart felt like it sank into his shoes. How could this possibly get any worse?

_You really want to tempt fate like that, Minato?_

After a moment of contemplation, Minato turned back around. "…Go on," He said.

"I am afraid that you and your friends have been dragged into something much greater than you believed, my friend," Philemon said heavily. "Everything that you have experienced so far… Tartarus, the Dark Hour, the Full Moon Shadows… All of them, pieces of a plan to cover the world in darkness, resulting in the total extinction of Humanity."

"What?" Minato exclaimed incredulously. "That's insane! Who would want to do that? Why?"

"There have been, and always will be, those who believe that death is preferable to what they feel is an insignificant life," Philemon said with a sad tone. "Such people will typically fall into both apathy and despair, seeing life as a prison or cage." Minato flinched involuntarily at this, uncomfortably reminded of his own feelings up until a few months ago.

To his credit, Philemon simply smiled encouragingly at him before continuing. "The question becomes what actions they take after this realization. Most commit suicide unfortunately, either taking their own life in an instant or over a long period of time. Some brave individuals, like yourself, find something that challenges that world view, and it causes them to change for the better."

He sighed wearily. "…A few, however, turn that apathy into a hatred for life of all kinds, seeking to destroy it in any way they can. Murderers, rapists… These unfortunate people then fall under the influence of my erstwhile adversary, Nyarlathotep."

"Wait, you have an adversary?" Minato said, raising his eyebrow.

"Of course," Philemon said lightly, steepling his fingers in front of his nose. "Nature is a constant battle between opposites, and he and I are no different. We have radically different ideas on the nature and future of humanity, and as such, fight over who is right and who is wrong." He shook his head. "Still, that is a story for another time. What matters right now is that my enemy has been manipulating you and your friends through one of his puppets, attempting to get you all to make a terrible mistake."

"What kind of mistake?" Minato asked hesitantly. "We know about the Full-Moon Shadows and how to destroy the Dark Hour..."

Philemon shook his head. "I'm afraid that what you know about the Dark Hour is a lie. The Full-Moon Shadows are not the cause of the Dark Hour. The Dark Hour is an unfortunately permanent change to the fabric of reality… A rip in time itself."

"So… that's it then." Minato said, defeated. "There's no stopping the Dark Hour…"

"I'm afraid it gets worse than that, my friend. Much worse."

"How in the hell is that possible?!" Minato said angrily. "People are dying left and right. Families are being completely ripped apart because of the Dark Hour and the Shadows, and you're telling me that we can't stop it? How in the hell could things possibly get worse than that?"

"My enemy intends for you to kill the 12 Arcana Shadows to reunite them into their true form; the 13th Arcana, also know as Death." He replied gravely.

"…Oh." Minato's knees gave out and he slumped to the floor. "Y-You mean…"

Philemon nodded. "When all 12 Shadows are killed, Death will be reborn, complete and sentient. It will awaken and consume every single mind in the world. Every single person on the planet will end up just like the Lost."

"…Leading to the death of humanity… That's why the Sea is darkening. Everyone's future is leading towards one outcome: Extinction." Minato said, despair creeping into his tone. It really was hopeless, unless…

"Wait!" He said, jumping to his feet. "What if we don't kill the Full-Moon Shadows? What if we just leave them alone?"

Philemon shook his head. "The same effect will still be accomplished, just much slower. I take it you've seen that the Shadows are starting to spread beyond the borders of the city?" Minato thought back to what he'd been told about the Shadows at Yakushima, and then what had happened that very same night. It had worried him at the time, but now seemed terrifying.

"They're spreading…" Minato said, voice barely a whisper.

Philemon nodded gravely. "Unfortunately, The Full-Moon Shadows must be stopped or they will grow powerful enough to spread and consume the world, one human at a time."

"So we're all dead." Minato said sadly, sinking back to the ground. "We just don't know it yet…"

"Not just yet." Philemon said with a small grin on his face. "Your arrival here has changed things considerably, as has Pharos' completed contract." Minato's face rose to look the masked man in the eyes, and the grin grew. "You see, Death was free once before, and it was stopped once before. I know this because, somehow, a tiny fragment of its being latched onto your soul before it disappeared."

"Pharos!" Minato said, standing up slowly. "That's right! He was a part of Death!"

"Not just that. He's a now a part of Death with _free will_, who has decided to ignore his true nature and assist you." Philemon grinned widely. "If _you_ kill all of the Shadows, then the fragments will have no choice but to return to their original owner. It would then be up to him to determine how to use them."

At this, the sound of a door opening rang through the hall, and a familiar, smug voice said, "You know what, I'll do it… but only if you say please."

* * *

Minato couldn't help it. He turned around, rushed to Pharos' side and hugged the boy with all his might. An amused groan of pain came from the boy's wiry frame, and he patted Minato's back lightly until he let go. Minato grinned widely as he pulled away. "Please."

Pharos narrowed his eyes, giving him a mock glare. "I don't know if you meant that one… Say, 'Pretty please.'"

Fighting to keep his face serious, Minato sighed and said, "Pretty please."

"Good…" Pharos said, a grin creeping onto his face. "Now say, 'Pretty please with whipped cream on top.'"

"Oh, shut up!" Minato said, finally bursting into laughter. "You don't even know what whipped cream is!"

"That's true, but I still want you to say it!" Pharos said before laughing himself.

After a few moments of joyous laughter, however, the sound of a throat clearing behind them stifled them and brought their attention back to Philemon. "Gentlemen, as amusing as this is, if the two of you have come to an agreement…?" Philemon waved his hand and a second folio appeared on the table, along with two pens and inkwells. "Perhaps now we could make this official?"

The folio opened, revealing a new piece of paper with the same elegant and stylized writing that the previous contract had. The contract had 4 lines on it and 2 spaces for signatures at the bottom.

"_**I chooseth this path of my own free will. I will be the light to lead us out of darkness, a beacon to all mankind. I will protect life at any cost, even with my own. I will not bow to temptation, and be true to myself and those around me."**_

Minato looked at Pharos expectantly, who shrugged. "I don't know… I just got finished doing the last one."

"Well, we'll both be in the barrel this time," Minato said with a smile. "Misery loves company, right?"

"I thought that you had a psychological aversion to signing things." He replied sarcastically.

"The difference is," Minato said sardonically, "that this time, I actually know what the purpose of this contract is. You didn't want to tell me what yours was for, remember?"

"Right." Pharos chuckled and nodded. "Alright, you've convinced me. Let's do this."

The two of them picked up the pens at the same time, and signed their names on the dotted lines. The contract flashed when the last line was etched into the page, and Philemon smiled. "Thank you both. I am proud to bear witness to this moment."

With a wave of his hand, the folio closed and disappeared, taking the pens and inkwells with it. He gestured for the two of them to sit, and they did so. "Well then, gentlemen," Philemon said with a genial smile. "I believe that I have one last duty to perform for you both before I let you go." He waved a hand again and Minato felt a sudden rush of energy fill him, causing a small, cold pinprick at the back of his head.

Pharos, however, visibly recoiled as if hit. He breathed heavily for a minute, then stared at Philemon with wide eyes. "What did you do?"

"If the two of you are going to work together," Philemon said patiently, "then you need to be able to fight together. I have linked your consciousness, allowing Minato access to your power."

Minato blinked rapidly as he processed this. "So I can summon Pharos at will now? I don't need an Evoker?"

"Not Pharos, but his Persona. Unfortunately, the Evoker is still a necessity." He sighed. "If I merged your consciousness to the point where it was possible without it, both of you would lose yourselves."

"That's unfortunate... Wait, hold the phone," Minato said with a confused look. "When and how the hell did you get a Persona?"

"When I told the Reaper to kiss my ass," Pharos said with a grin. "When I did that, it unlocked for me, and I melted the bastard with it."

"Really?" Minato said, impressed. "You're going to have to tell me what happened up there one of these days…"

"Yeah, yeah, maybe…" Pharos said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyways, want to see him?" Minato nodded, smiling at Pharos' excitement. Pharos quickly put his hand up to his head like a gun and said, "Persona!"

With a blue flash and the sound of cracking glass, a robotic jackal with glowing red eyes and a half-ring of wings floating behind it suddenly appeared beside Pharos' chair. Its body was painted black and gold, with silver blades protruding like feathers from the Persona's forearm. A long black tail swished from the Persona's backside, and a spear floated in midair next to it, just within arm's reach in case violence was imminent. It had its arms crossed arrogantly as it stared at them.

"Minato, meet Anubis." Pharos said genially.

"**I am Anubis, the guardian of the dead," **It said, bowing a head towards Minato.** "Pleased to meet you, carrier of Jehuty."**

"And I, you." Minato said warmly. "You know Jehuty?"

"**Unfortunately." **The Persona said with a hint of humor, before shimmering out of existence.

Philemon smirked and said, "Bickering again it seems. Those two never change. Anyways, in addition to this ability, I have given Pharos the ability to speak into your mind directly, since I can't expect you to fall asleep in the middle of a battle in order to consult him. He should also be able to observe what you can, and be able to assist in that way as well. After all, two sets of eyes are better than one."

"That seems kinda… creepy." Minato said warily. "What about my privacy?"

Philemon shook his head. "He can only do this while the Dark Hour is in effect, and you have the ability to block him out if necessary, so worry not about privacy."

"Yeah, I'm usually asleep during the day anyways, so don't worry," Pharos said with a smirk. "I'm not going to be able to watch or comment the next time that you and Mitsuru are trying to suck each other's faces off, thank god."

The temperature in the room quickly dropped a degree as Minato glared icy daggers at Pharos, causing the boy to cringe slightly. In the back of Minato's mind, behind his annoyance, he was secretly congratulating himself. Mitsuru would have been proud of that one.

To his credit, Pharos wasn't too rattled, quickly giving a nervous laugh to cover his discomfort. "Relax, Minato. It was a joke!"

Philemon cut in before Minato could reply. "Sad as I am to interrupt this… _interesting_ discussion, my friends, I'm afraid our time together reaches its end. Someone has been trying to wake Minato for around a minute now, and it's getting harder to maintain his connection to the room. As such, I will leave you both with one last piece of advice…"

He leaned forward. "Beware the agents of my enemy, Nyarlathotep. They are the ones who have been using you as pawns, and they are not to be taken lightly. However, they must be dealt with if you are to fulfill your contract. As such, my advice to you is this… Be careful who you trust. Now, farewell."

The room suddenly became hazy as Minato's vision began to darken. He felt his eyes getting heavier and heavier until they closed completely. His grip on the Velvet Room shattered, and he felt everything slip away from him, all except for a mildly annoying beeping in his ears…

* * *

"_**So… What are you going to tell your friends about all this?"**_

Pharos' voice in his mind broke Minato out of his reverie. He quickly finished dressing and looked at himself in the mirror. Pharos stood right behind his reflection. "I'm not going to tell them a thing right now." He said matter-of-factly.

"_**What? Why?"**_ Pharos said, confused. _**"We need to warn them about the Shadows, and the Dark Hour, and-"**_

"It's not that I don't want to tell them, Pharos. We just don't know who we can trust right now." Minato said in a low whisper. "Someone fed us that intel about the Shadows and the Dark Hour, so that means that someone in the know has to be working with Nyarlatep, or… whatever Philemon said his name was. Anyways, we can't risk tipping off _anyone_ that we know the truth about the Dark Hour, lest whoever they are decides to take the nuclear option and kill everyone involved and start over."

He snorted in amusement. "Besides, what do you think would happen if I stood up during a meeting and said, 'Hey, guys, someone lied to us about the Dark Hour being reversible, and what we're doing is really part of a plan to destroy humanity by using Death itself. Oh, how do I know all this? Well, a millennia-old spirit told me in a dream. So, is that enough evidence for you guys?'" He shook his head in exasperation. "Does that seem believable to you?"

"_**No… Not when you put it that way."**_Pharos said, reluctantly_.__** "But you and I can't do this on our own. We need them."**_

"Agreed," Minato said with a smirk. "Which is why you and I are going to keep our mouths shut until we get some real evidence." He turned to and opened his door, stepped outside, and headed towards Junpei's door, intending to fulfill his promise to Fuuka.

"_**How in the hell are you going to do that without raising suspicion?"**_Pharos said skeptically as he walked down the hall.

"_I'm_ not." Minato said under his breath. "Luckily, I just so happen to know one of the best private detectives in the country, who's also a naturally suspicious bastard about the people he works with."

"_**Oooh… Smart plan. Get the old man involved. Nice! This won't blow up in your face or anything.**_**"**

"Glad you think so," Minato whispered with a touch of sarcasm. "Now, hush for a second."

As Minato came to a stop in front of Junpei's door, he felt Pharos' presence retreat, offering him the privacy he wanted. He smiled for a second, then rapped his fist on the door. "Junpei? You awake in there?"

He heard a loud groan of pain and a thump come from inside the door. Minato's stomach dropped. He knocked on the door again. "Hey, Junpei? Are you ok?" Another groan of pain responded to him, and Minato's flight or fight response activated. Had someone or something already gotten to him? Not on his watch! "Hey, I'm coming in! Stand back from the door!"

He raised his foot in order to give the door a good kick, but before he could, he heard Junpei croak, "Wait… Don't…"

A second later, the door clicked unlocked and Junpei looked through the crack in the door. He was pale, and looked drained. He was still wearing his school uniform, but it was drenched with sweat. Minato's eyes widened as he took in Junpei's battered state. "Damn, dude… What the hell'd you do? Go 3 rounds with a Full-Moon Shadow?"

"No…" He said, his voice barely a whisper. "I forgot to tell Fuuka about my allergy to soy… and she made soy chicken for dinner…"

"Oh, shit," Minato said, concern etching its way onto his face, "Do we need to get you to the hospital?"

"No!" He croaked loudly, drawing a look of surprise. He shook his head regretfully. "Fuuka already feels terrible… She thinks that I hate her cooking… This would just make her feel worse…"

Minato gaped at him for a moment, then shook his head in amazement. "You know, sometimes you really are Stupei. If you'd explained this to her to begin with, you wouldn't be in this situation." He sighed. "Come on, we got something we have to deal with. We're needed on the 4th floor, but fair warning: I'm not letting you go out like this."

Junpei gave him a disdainful look, obviously disappointed, but Minato didn't budge. "Anaphylactic shock isn't something you want to mess with, Junpei. You're lucky you aren't dead. You're going to the hospital after we figure out what the hell's going on out there, and Fuuka's going with you."

"But-"

"No, Junpei." Minato said warningly. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't make me go get Mitsuru. I know her, and she'll tell you the exact same thing I did, except she won't be nearly as kind about it. I hate hospitals as much as you do, but even I see them as necessary sometimes. Believe me, this is a fight you won't win."

Junpei let out a sigh of defeat after a moment of contemplation. "Ok… I'll be up there soon." he said demurely, closing the door with a sad click.

* * *

Minato shook his head in exasperation. Junpei was a piece of work sometimes. Brilliant in battle, confident in spirit… clumsy in everything else. Luckily, Fuuka seemed to balance him out well. His amount of confidence and optimism seemed to inflate her self-esteem, and her patience and grace made up for his shortcomings in everything else.

As he turned and headed up the stairs towards the 4th floor, he felt a cold pinprick at the back of his mind, signaling that Pharos had come back. _**"He really is an idiot sometimes, huh?"**_

"Eh, all of us are sometimes, especially around those you care about." Minato said as he stepped onto the 3rd floor, before stopping and smiling. Mitsuru was walking towards him from her room, a small smile on her face. Her hair was rumpled, obviously having just woken up, but in a way that made her seem more graceful and less composed than normal. He felt his heart start to race, arousal shooting through out his system.

_"Christ, I haven't seen her like this since Yakushima. Do I really miss sleeping next to her that much?"_

"_**Speaking of idiots…" **_Pharos said, rudely knocking him out of his impure thoughts.

Purely as an experiment, Minato mentally pictured giving Pharos a slap upside his head, and was pleasantly rewarded with a slight cry of pain from the boy, causing him to chuckle a bit. Mitsuru noticed, and her smile grew a bit wider, causing another jolt of arousal to shoot through him. "Good evening, Minato. What's so funny?"

"_**Busted…So, what are you going to tell her, Minato? Abusing a voice in your head made you laugh?" **_

"Oh, uh… Just Junpei. He's apparently got a food allergy to soy," Minato said, ignoring his tenant's glib remark. "So naturally, Fuuka ended up making him some food with soy in it cause he didn't tell her about his allergy, and now he's sick."

"What? Does he need to go to the hospital?" She said concernedly.

"Probably," Minato said as they began walking up to the 4th floor. "He's white as a sheet and looks like he's been vomiting."

"So, wait, you were laughing at him because of that?" She said, her eyes narrowing angrily.

In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have implied that he was laughing at someone else's pain, either metaphysical or physical. It made him sound like a sadist.

"_**You have no one to blame for this but yourself." **_Pharos said, sending Minato the mental equivalent of a grin._** "You seem to get some kind of sick pleasure causing pain to others, it seems."**_

"_I don't know, you might be right about that," _Minato thought conversationally._ "Want another example?"_

"_**Ok, shutting up now…"**_

"I-I wasn't laughing at the fact that he's sick, more at the fact that he didn't tell her that he was allergic to soy before she fed it to him," Minato said defensively. "I mean, I would never laugh at him being in pain. I just think that he was- Well, I can't really call him stupid, cause he's kind of proven that he _has_ brains, but I swear, his attention to detail leaves a lot to be desired."

"I can agree with that. Still," she said with a small reproachful look, "It's not nice to laugh at his discomfort, Minato."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," Minato said, letting out the breath he'd been holding. "Anyways, I'm going to have Fuuka take him to the hospital once we find out what she woke us up for."

She nodded. "Sounds good. Hopefully it's nothing serious. We can't afford to be 2 men down if something serious comes up."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Mitsuru." Minato said reassuringly as they turned off the stairs and entered the command room. Yukari and Fuuka were already there, surrounding the control console. Fuuka was seated, and had brought up a satellite map of Iwatodai, and was speaking to Akihiko through the console.

"The location I sent you is correct, Senpai. I'm sure of it. I know I sensed a Shadow there a few minutes ago, but it dropped off the map completely," Fuuka said, waving at the two teens as they walked in. "Anyways, I got everyone else up too. Yukari-chan is here, as are Minato-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai."

"Good," Akihiko said lightly. "Well, tell them to get down here as soon as you tell them the news. I'll call back with a report in a moment."

"Hey," Minato whispered to Mitsuru as Fuuka signed off, "Where's the control box for that alarm that woke us up?" She gave him a knowing look at this, and he shrugged. "I'm just curious…"

"You can't destroy the emergency alarm, Arisato," Mitsuru said with an exasperated tone.

"I'm not going to destroy it…" he said innocently as he tried to keep a grin off his face, "…I'm just going to make sure that it doesn't work for the foreseeable future. Those two things aren't always the same, you know."

"Anyways," Fuuka said, pointedly cutting off Mitsuru's snarky reply, "Like Akihiko-senpai said, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I sensed a Shadow out in the city. The good news is that it's already been destroyed."

Minato rolled his eyes and gave a mock groan. "It's already destroyed? Come on, Fuuka, you got me out of bed for _this_?"

"If you prefer," Mitsuru said, turning to face him, "I could send you back to the hospital along with Iori if you're not feeling up to it. You could still be suffering from that concussion and I'm sure that the doctors would be happy to thoroughly examine you _again_."

Minato narrowed his eyes at her. She was playing with fire now. "You wouldn't dare…" He hissed playfully.

Her mouth turned upward in a triumphant grin. "Try me."

"Wait, Junpei has to go to the hospital?" Fuuka said worriedly, her eyes widening in panic and breaking the two out of their staring contest.

"Smooth, Mitsuru," Minato said sardonically, drawing a glare from said woman. Ignoring her death glare, he turned to Fuuka and said, "He's allergic to soy and he accidentally ingested some earlier tonight."

"Soy? But that's what I put in… Oh my god!" She exclaimed, realization striking her. "I poisoned him?!" Tears started to form in her eyes.

"Hey, you didn't know any better, and it's his fault for not telling you," Minato said calmly. He walked up and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. "He'll be fine. He obviously didn't get exposed to that much or he'd be dead by now. If it'll make you feel better, you can go with him to the hospital."

Before she could respond, a chime sounded from the command console, indicating an incoming message. Fuuka quickly pulled away from Minato, hit the blinking red button with a slap, and said, "Command room. Is that you, Senpai?"

"You guys need to get down here immediately!" Akihiko said in a panicked tone, causing everyone to jump.

"What? Why?" Fuuka said, a concerned look on her face. "Are there more Shadows?"

"No, I found that Persona-user!" Akihiko said hurriedly. "He's wounded, bad! I need Minato or a first aid kit down here now, or he's not going to make it!"

"Persona-user?" Minato and Mitsuru asked simultaneously. "What Persona-user?"

"Right before that Shadow was destroyed, I sensed a Persona that I've never seen before," Fuuka said hurriedly. "That's why I sent Akihiko-senpai down there, to see if it was a new Persona-user. It looks like I was right."

"It appears so. Good work, Yamagishi," Mitsuru said firmly, causing Fuuka to blush slightly. "Very well, everyone. Get the first aid kit and get ready. We move in 2. Akihiko, do what you can to stabilize him until we arrive. We'll be there soon."

"Roger that. Hurry!" Akihiko said before signing off.

Without any more hesitation, the team sprang into action. Minato quickly ran to the armory in the corner and pulled down the emergency first aid kit. Mitsuru sent off a quick message to Kirijo HQ, and Fuuka and Yukari quickly began searching for the fastest route to the Shrine via the command console's satellite imagery. None of them noticed a certain blue-capped teen stumble into the command room until he slid onto the sofa with a groan of exertion.

Junpei was visibly panting, trying to catch his breath, sweat rolling in fat droplets off his forehead. Getting up the stairs had obviously worn him out.

"Junpei-kun!" Fuuka gasped as she took in his condition. "Oh my god!"

"Don't… blame your…self… Fuuka," Junpei said between panting breaths. "Should've…told you… My…fault… Didn't want… you to… hate me any… more…"

"You idiot…" She said lightly as she sat down next to him, pressing a handkerchief to his head. "I don't hate you… I thought you hated me…"

Ignoring their conversation, Minato quickly ran over to Junpei's other side, unzipping the first aid kit and rummaging around inside. After a moment, he located a small, pen-shaped syringe, and a satisfied grin spread across his face. Turning his attention back to his friend, he quickly said, "Fuuka, help him take off his pants."

"W-What?!" She exclaimed, her face becoming bright red. "W-What f-for?!"

"I need to be able to inject this," he explained, holding up the syringe, "into his upper leg. It's epinephrine, should help alleviate the symptoms of anaphylactic shock long enough to get him to the hospital."

"O-Oh… O-Ok!" She said, her gaze going from nervous and embarrassed to firm and determined in an instant. She quickly bent down and unsnapped his belt, also causing him to turn bright red and begin to struggle weakly.

"W-wait!" he croaked energetically, "W-What are you doing, Fuuka? We haven't even kissed yet!"

Despite his protests, Fuuka quickly managed to pull his pants down to his knees, and Minato quickly jabbed him in leg with the syringe. He depressed the plunger, and a second later, Junpei's eyes shot open, energy visibly racing through his body.

"Wow, what the hell was that?!" He exclaimed in awe. "I feel great!"

"It was epinephrine, or pure adrenaline in layman's terms," Minato said with a slight grin. "You still aren't out of the woods yet, but you should be able to make it to the hospital without dying."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Junpei said as he leapt to his feet. "Come on, Fuuka, let's go!"

"What?! But Junpei-kun, your pants!" She said, averting her eyes from his exposed legs.

"What?" He said, before looking down and noticing his pants around his ankles. He looked up, face turning red as he finally realized what was going on. Yukari was averting her eyes, trying and failing to hide her giggles. Mitsuru had her eyes closed and a slight blush on her cheeks, but otherwise gave no outward indication of noticing his predicament. Fuuka looked as if she was a mouse trapped by a cat, her face bright red. Minato just shrugged, as if this were just a normal occurrence.

"Shit!" He said, quickly reaching down and pulling his pants back on. "Ok, nothing to see here."

"Ok, Speedy, you feel up to going to the hospital now?" Minato said with a slight grin. "We need to get going."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Junpei said with a nod. "I should be able to make it now. Thanks for the shot."

"No problem, just get better soon," Minato said. He turned to Fuuka, giving her a slight encouraging grin. "Keep an eye on him, would you?"

"Of course, senpai," Fuuka said with a nod. "Go help Akihiko, I'll help Junpei."

Minato nodded and turned to Yukari and Mitsuru. "Ready?" They nodded. "Good, now let's go meet our new friend."

* * *

"Roger that. Hurry!" Akihiko said into the receiver before closing it and turning to the bleeding figure lying on his side on the ground. He got down on his knees next to the blue haired teen and began putting pressure on where he thought the blood was coming from. The blood had stained the green windbreaker he was wearing a sickly yellow color, making it hard to locate the wound.

The boy moaned in response to his pressure, causing Akihiko to put a comforting hand on his arm. "Relax. My friends will be here soon. We'll get you all fixed up."

"Good." The boy said with a malicious tone as he turned on his side and slid the knife hidden in his hand up through Akihiko's ribs, causing Akihiko to gasp in pain.

Jin leaned in, putting his mouth next to Akihiko's ear. "I can't wait to finally meet them."

**.**

**.**

**.**

_**Well, here it is. The moment I've been anticipating and dreading in equal parts ever since I started this story. Edit- Akihiko isn't dead. I'm just an asshole trying to psych you guys out. Sorry. D:**_

**_This is the point where you should really throw all of your preconceptions about where this story is going out of the window, if you haven't by now. _****_As Philemon said earlier, everything's changed._****_ I know that I'm probably going to catch some flak for this, but trust me, this was necessary. Things are going to get kind of dark in the coming days, but that's the whole point of the story of Persona, isn't it? _**

**_Fear not though, there will still be laughter and happiness, shining a small light against the encroaching darkness. In addition, I hope that I can get the next chapter out before the end of next week, so we can get rid of this awful cliffhanger… :D_**

_**I hope you all like what has happened with Pharos, despite everything. I'm having a blast writing him as a kind of foil to Minato. I love the kinds of stories that have the character's Personae talk to them, so this is kind of my way of doing so.**_

_**As always, please write a review if you like (or hate) the chapter, the story so far, or if you have some criticisms. In addition, please send me a PM if you have any issues, concerns, or questions concerning the story, me, or anything else. I love you all, so please don't stone me until I have the story complete. ;_; **_

Edit part 2: Better explained how Pharos' connection and his Persona works for future balance.

-Dr. Ninja


	18. July 29th continued

Hi, I went back and made an important clarification in the previous chapter about Pharos and his abilities, particularly in relation to his Persona. It will make some of the events here make _slightly_ more sense, but it's not necessary. Enjoy!

* * *

The three SEES members ran down what felt like an unending series of streets and alleyways, rarely stopping for breath. Someone's life was at stake, and Junpei's emergency had unfortunately taken up valuable time. If they got there and the person had died because they had taken too long, Akihiko would never forgive them.

"Did this guy have to pick somewhere half way across the city to get hurt?" Minato said in between heavy breaths. "Couldn't he have just shown up on our doorway and said, 'Hey, I can summon a Persona, I'd love to help you guys get rid of the Dark Hour, mind if I join?'"

"That's wishful thinking, Minato-kun," Yukari said, a hint of sarcasm evident. "And way too optimistic. You've seen our luck lately, right?"

"So? A man can dream, can't he?" Despite his joking tone, he had a shadow of a grimace on his face. If only she knew how bad it had actually gotten.

"Quiet, you two," Mitsuru said, a slight edge to her tone, "And stay alert. Something doesn't feel right about this…"

Unfortunately, Mitsuru was right. A minute later, when the three rounded the last corner to turn onto the street to Nagasaki Shrine, a heavy, dark fog suddenly enshrouded the entire street. It was so thick that it prevented Minato from seeing 5 feet in front of him, not to mention the already terrible lighting. He grimaced. Now his gut was doing somersaults too.

"…the hell is this?" Minato said warily, scanning around him. "What do you guys think?"

Unfortunately, he got no response. He turned around. There was no sign of his team. "Guys? Yukari? Mitsuru?" Still no response. He took a deep breath and counted to ten, attempting to calm himself. There was no way that this fog was natural. He'd been right behind Yukari and Mitsuru, and now they couldn't even hear him?

_Beware the agents of my enemy…_

He shook his head after a moment, putting his worry aside. In the end, the two girls could take care of themselves if it came down to it: someone else needed his help right now. But how to get to them?

"_**I can help," **_Pharos said lightly_**. "I can sense death approaching someone somewhere around…here."**_

As he said, "Here," a bright light shone through the fog, giving Minato a point to work towards. He smiled lightly, his anxiety taming a bit as he started to walk towards the light. "Thanks, Pharos. This is a lot more handy than some cryptic crap that you say in my dreams."

Pharos however, didn't respond right away. "Pharos? Where are you?"

There was still no response and the cold pinprick at the back of his mind was gone too. That left Minato to walk through the fog alone. He kept his hand close to the hilt of his rapier as he began walking towards the light, keeping his eyes and ears open for any sign of life. As he drew closer and closer to the light, the fog began to visibly clear, allowing him to relax slightly. A few moments later, just when Minato thought that he could start to make out the shrine, that's when Pharos suddenly came back.

"_**Minato, you need to hurry!" **_He said, his voice panicked.

"Yeah, I'm almost there, Pharos, but there could be-"

"_**You don't understand!" **_Pharos said, frustration evident in his voice. _**"The wounded person, I've felt their presence before! It's-"**_

The dark fog finally cleared as he took another step forward, showing the form of a teen wearing a red blazer over a Gekkoukan uniform lying on the pavement in front of the shrine. He wore a white belt with an empty holster on it, and he was currently gurgling for breath, blood visibly pouring from a hole his chest.

Minato's gut felt like it tore open. His heart sank into his feet, and he screamed, "Akihiko!" as he ran as fast as he could to his friend's side, setting down the first aid kit right next to him and flipping it open. "I'm right here, buddy," He said, his voice trembling as he turned back to Akihiko's gasping form, "Don't you worry. I'll get you fixed up in no time."

"Min…ato…" He gurgled, grasping Minato's hand tightly. "T…tra…" he managed to get out before his eyes slipped closed. He was slipping into shock!

"Hey, Akihiko!" Minato said, slapping him across the face lightly. Unfortunately, he'd already slipped into unconsciousness. He didn't have long left to live at this rate. Minato had to do something, now!

"_**Minato, I'm sensing something else around here…"**_

"Not now!"

"_**But Minato, I-!"**_

"Not now, Pharos!" Minato said angrily, shoving the boy's presence out of his mind. He couldn't afford the distraction right now. He did a quick momentary assessment of Akihiko's injuries. He was unconscious, but alive, although barely breathing. There was a single point of trauma; a deep incision in between his second and third rib on his right side, right where the lung was located. However, there was no blood pooling from his back, which meant that it had been a short blade that had caused the wound. That meant that he had a collapsed lung, a grave diagnosis. He quickly rooted around in the open first aid kit before yelling in frustration. Nothing in the kit would help him with a punctured lung. There had to be some other way…

His eyes lit up. Of course! His Persona! He snapped his hand to the side of his head and pulled the "trigger".

"Jehuty! Mediarama!"

The Persona shimmered into existence behind him, and emitted his tell-tale green healing glow, sending a wash of energy over both teens. Minato watched with bated breath as the hole in between Akihiko's ribs began to close, leaving only a small surface cut in its place. Still, Akihiko had evidently bled a lot into his lungs, as he began to cough blood up violently from his re-inflated lung. Minato quickly turned him onto his side, then held him down, getting him to expel as much as he could.

After several agonizing moments, Akihiko had coughed up what looked like a pint of blood before finally stopping. His breathing became raspy and heavy, but steady. Minato sighed in relief. He wouldn't drown in his own blood at least, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. He had to get Akihiko out of here, now. Whoever had done this was probably still out and about.

"Shit, you're heavy…" he said as he picked up Akihiko's prone form, "Thank god you've been making me work out… Might just save your life…"

"Shame," an even-toned voice said from behind, startling him, "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't have been able to save him. It would have been great to see how torn up you would have been."

Minato spun around slowly, his friend's unconscious form still in his arms, coming face to face with a blue haired teen. He was approximately the same height as Minato, had glasses, and was wearing a bloodstained green windbreaker. Akihiko's Evoker peeked out from his waistband. He also had a gun in his hand, pointed straight at Minato's head.

"Still," the teen said cruelly, "Not like it matters much." He gave Minato a malicious grin. "You're both going to die tonight."

"So," Minato said conversationally, anger boiling in his stomach "You're the one that did this to my friend?"

"Yup." The teen said genially, as if he were just discussing the weather. "Surprised?"

"Indeed. If you don't mind, I'd like to respond in kind." He closed his eyes as he went over the facts aloud. "I'm guessing by your demeanor that you've wanted to kill us for a while now, since you took the time to set up this trap. It was smart, using a Shadow to lure us in. Meticulously planned too. I'm guessing that since you knew we'd even be watching for Shadow activity in the first place, you must know a fair bit about us and our abilities, and given that you're up and about during the Dark Hour, you must have a Persona. Otherwise you'd be Shadow food."

He didn't bother waiting for a response from the boy before continuing. "I'm also assuming that this fog was your way of separating us? It certainly isn't natural, so that means one of two things: either you're alone, and want to finish us off one by one; or you have friends who can take care of the others."

He opened his eyes, glaring at the teen in front of him. "I can tell all of that just by your presence. The only thing I don't know is, why? Why attack us?"

What he'd just done was an age old intimidation tactic. Weak-minded criminals usually cracked at this point, scared stiff after having their best laid plans deduced and deconstructed in a few seconds. Unfortunately for him, this guy wasn't weak minded.

The teen gazed at him for a moment, stunned, then gave out a bark of laughter. "Wow, you _are_ a good detective. I almost didn't believe the files I got on you," he said, shaking his head in mock disbelief, "But man, you _are_ the real deal."

Minato felt his stomach sink. This guy knew about his past too? How much else did he know? "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," Minato said genially, refusing to allow his anger to surface visibly, "You know about me, it seems, but I can't say the same about you."

"Well," the teen said, tilting his head in thought, "I guess it doesn't matter that much if you know my name." He took a small theatrical bow, his gun hand going under his stomach. "My name is Jin."

"_**More like 'Dogmeat', asshole…" **_Pharos growled in the back of Minato's mind. _**"Sooner or later, this guy's going to practice what he preaches, so what are we gonna do?"**_

"_Maybe I can trick this Jin into launching into a monologue," _Minato thought back._ "You know, keep him talking long enough for Yukari and Mitsuru to arrive. I swear, if he had a mustache, I bet he'd be twirling it right about now."_

"Well, Jin, you keep saying that you're going to kill me," Minato said, keeping his tone conversational. "But in the past, I usually knew who wanted to kill me beforehand, and their reasons as well. You, I know I've never met before, so what have I done to you that makes you want to kill me and my friends?"

"You never even saw me coming," Jin said, training his gun back on Minato's head, "Mostly because I wanted it that way. Knowing that, what makes you think I'd really tell you why?" He shook his head. "Honestly, do most of the criminals you face really play this theatrical game with you, making sure that you know why before they try to kill you?" He scoffed. "No wonder none of them have succeeded."

Minato shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many criminals want others to know about the crimes they commit. Most of the sickos I've met used killing as a form of self-validation, a way to make themselves feel more significant by stamping out the lives of others. As such, they seek attention for the things that they do, hoping that someone will recognize their genius." He scowled as he looked at Jin. "…Some psychos, however, just do it for the hell of it. Because they think it's fun."

"So, Jin," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Which one are you?"

Somehow, Jin's grin became more creepy and malicious than before. "Little bit from column A…" he said as he rotated the gun to rest against his own temple, "…Little bit from column B."

"_**Minato, I'm sensing something… something bad…" **_Pharos said, fear creeping into his tone.

Before Minato could respond, Jin pulled the trigger, causing a blackish-red flash of light, and sending the sound of cracking glass echoing down the street. The flash felt evil, wrong… unnatural. The smile that Jin gave while the blackish light swirled around him only added to the feeling.

"Moros!"

Both Minato and Pharos had the same thing to say.

"Oh…"

"…_**crap."**_

* * *

"Minato!" Mitsuru said, her voice barely below a yell, "Where are you?!"

"It's hopeless, Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said with a shake of her head, "We've been searching for 5 minutes now. Whatever this fog is, it's too thick to see through, and if he hasn't responded by now, I don't think he will."

"How the hell did we lose him?" Mitsuru bit out, her voice worried. "He was right behind us!"

"Easy," an unknown feminine voice said, causing both girls to jump, "No one can get through this fog unless _I_ want them to. Once the three of you stepped foot in it, you were mine."

The two girls leapt back towards each other, going back to back. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, echoing up and down the street at full volume. The two rotated around in a circle, keeping their backs to one another, trying to locate the source of the voice. Whoever they were, it was fairly obvious that their intentions were hostile.

"Who's there?" Mitsuru snarled after a moment. "Show yourself!"

"Mmm, nah," the voice replied with a tone of amusement. "I'm fine where I am, watching you two idiots stumble about. It's hilarious."

"Bet you wouldn't say that if I could see you!" Yukari said angrily. "I know for a fact that you'd get an arrow between the eyes faster than you could blink!"

"Ooh, big words coming from the party girl!" the voice said mockingly. "Are you sure you know how to use that bow properly? You wouldn't want to break a nail, would you?"

"I'll break a nail on your goddamn face if I get the opportunity!" Yukari yelled back, her face turning red. She made a movement to charge through the fog, but Mitsuru held her back, snatching hold of her wrist.

"Wait, Takeba. Whoever she is, she wants us to separate in this fog, making us easier to finish off." Mitsuru said warningly.

"Oh, ruin my fun, why don't you?" the voice said, disappointment evident in her tone. "Typical stuck up control freak. So tell me, how does it feel knowing I hold all the cards right now?"

Mitsuru's gaze turned icy, and her face became red with anger. "It takes a coward to sit where no one can find you and sling insults around all day. Show yourself… If you have any spine at all."

"Hmm… I dunno," the voice said in a sing-song tone, "I wouldn't want to take orders from a prissy little bitch like you. Might make you think I'm one of your peons on Student Council."

Mitsuru's eyes widened. This person knew who she was? How?

"Shut the hell up!" Yukari said before Mitsuru ask. "You don't know a damn thing about her, much less me, so either man up and face us or leave us the hell alone!"

"Oh, but I know all about you, _Yukari," _the voice said with a hint of malice behind her amusement, "which is why I don't understand why you take orders from such a stick-up-her-ass queen like her. You don't come from money like her, so what could you two _possibly_ have in common?"

"We're teammates, working to remove the Dark Hour," Mitsuru bit out, her patience at its end. "That's all that's needed in the end."

"That's what I don't get," the voice said conversationally, "When you two get rid of the Dark Hour, what will you have in common then?"

Neither Yukari or Mitsuru answered, causing the voice to start laughing. "You guys are such hypocrites! You claim that you're friends, but in reality, you can't stand each other! This is freaking hilarious!"

"Shut the hell up!" Mitsuru screamed, her hand becoming white from the death grip she had on her rapier's hilt. "I respect the hell out of Yukari, as well as anyone else who fights against the Dark Hour! You, however, are set to cower behind your parlor tricks and insults! I may not have much in common with Yukari, but I would die to protect her. That's more than I can say of you, coward!"

"Senpai…" Yukari said, blinking rapidly at her senpai's outburst. "I-"

A sudden twinge at the back of Mitsuru's mind warned her of incoming danger. "Takeba, down!"

She and Yukari both flung themselves away from each other, barely avoiding the slashes that would have slit both of their throats. When the two of them hit the ground, the fog suddenly lifted in a 25 meter area around them, revealing a pretty brunette woman standing off to their left. She looked like she was slightly older than them, was wearing a brown leather jacket and holding a pair of long bladed stilettos in her hands, twirling them theatrically.

"You say you would die for her…" The woman sang with a nasty grin on her face. "Care to put that to the test, Kirijo?"

* * *

"Ugh…" Junpei moaned, holding his stomach while simultaneously leaning on Fuuka. "I wish I had another one of those syringes right about now."

His energy had been off the charts after he'd been injected with adrenaline back at the dorm, but that hadn't lasted long. Soon, he'd felt his breathing become shorter and shorter as the two of them had gotten closer to the hospital, with him eventually needing assistance in order to walk. Luckily, Fuuka had been all too willing to help, despite weighing around 20 pounds less than him.

"Come…on, Junpei-kun… just a little more to go…" She said, sweat visibly dripping from her bangs.

Junpei looked down at her and cringed. "I'm sorry for making you worry earlier, Fuuka-chan… and for making you carry me."

To Fuuka's credit, she simply smiled back up at him. "Don't worry about it… I think that you've suffered enough for your mistake, don't you think? As for carrying you, I think that you can return the favor later."

He laughed then grimaced as his stomach did another flip-flop. "Yeah, I guess so…"

The two of them stumbled down a couple more alleyways in companionable silence, until Fuuka began to feel a strange presence nearby. She stopped suddenly, causing Junpei to lurch to a stop himself. "Fuuka, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly. "Is it a Shadow?"

"I…don't know…" She said, her brow furrowed in concentration. "I can't quite make out what it-"

She suddenly flung herself (and by extension, Junpei,) to the floor of the alley, drawing a pained groan from Junpei as he hit the ground.

"Fuuka, what the hell?" he wheezed as he struggled to catch his breath. "Why'd you do that?"

In response, she pointed above his head, and his eyes widened as he followed her finger. A hatchet with a chain connected to the hilt was buried in the wall right where his head had been a second ago. The chain suddenly pulled taut, and the hatchet snapped out of the wall, returning to the hand that threw it.

The two teens scrambled to their feet just in time to see a girl in a white gothic dress snatch the hatchet out of the air, then wrapping the chain around her hand in a spiral. She had blood-red hair, a necklace with what looked like a silver medallion and a small decorative sword on the chain, and a blank expression on her face, despite the fact she'd just attempted to murder Junpei.

"What the hell was that for, lady!?" Junpei said angrily.

"Hmm, interesting," She said, her eyes fixed on Fuuka. "I've never seen anyone who could sense me before I killed them. Congratulations, you're a first for me."

"Why are you doing this?" Fuuka said, a tremor beginning to form in her voice. "Why try to kill us?"

The girl shrugged. "It's what I was told to do."

"What?!" Junpei exclaimed before wincing, his stomach rolling in pain. "You're willing to kill someone just because they told you to?"

The girl gave it a moment of thought, then nodded. "Jin told me to kill you two tonight, so that's what I'm doing. I'm on bad terms with him and the harlot already, so I'd rather not piss them off any more than I can get away with. If it's any consolation, it's nothing personal, at least for me." With that, she began spinning the hatchet and chain around, preparing to throw it again.

Junpei's eyes widened. He needed to get Fuuka out of here! He snatched his Evoker out of its holster, put it against his head, and pulled the trigger. "Hermes!"

His winged Persona shimmered into existence, but only momentarily. The moment the summon had finished, white hot pain flared up all throughout Junpei's body, the trauma of summoning his Persona finally purging the rest of the epinephrine from his system. He fell to the ground, his breath short and rapid. He turned back to look at Fuuka, whose eyes were wide with fear.

"Fuuka… run!" he managed to wheeze.

"Ha!" The girl said, a small smile forming on her lips. "Pathetic heroics. You should be more worried about yourself than her." Her smile disappeared as her hatchet picked up speed, becoming a blur as she rotated it around and around, faster and faster. She turned to Fuuka. "Well, are you going to run or not?"

Fuuka didn't make a sound. She didn't move. She didn't breathe. All she could do was stare at Junpei's writhing body. "Run, dammit!" He screamed at her. She didn't react. He couldn't watch this. The sight of her standing there, frozen in terror, broke Junpei's heart.

Unfortunately, her hesitation had no such effect on their red-headed attacker. She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just makes my job easier." And then she flung the ax as hard as she could, straight at Junpei. He closed his eyes, refusing to watch.

_I'm sorry, Fuuka… that you have to watch me die…_

He waited for the pain that signaled that he'd been killed, but it never came. The sudden sound of glass cracking made him force his eyes open… and what he saw both gave him hope and filled him with terror.

Fuuka stood inside Lucia, her Evoker pointed at her head, a determined glare aimed right at their attacker. Lucia's normally calm, serene expression was now a mask of anger, and her normally clasped hands were now extended. The ax that had been thrown was gripped inside one of them, and, with a gesture from Fuuka, it was crushed into splinters a moment later.

"You…" Fuuka said, her voice trembling, not with terror, but with anger, "You don't get to touch him… you bitch!"

The girl, to her own credit, simply blinked in surprise as she dropped the chain and pulled out her own Evoker from a pocket on her side.

"How interesting… He said you couldn't fight…" She said as she leveled the gun with her temple. She pulled the trigger a moment later and said, "Mnemosyne."

A large, beautiful woman appeared behind her, dressed in a toga with a belt wrapped around her midsection, a short sword sheathed on her hip. Her face was covered by a screaming mask meant to represent a crying woman. Real tears flowed from the eye holes. The red-headed girl shook her head in admonishment. "You should have run when you had the chance."

* * *

The darkness suddenly parted to reveal Jin's Persona, a robot that looked like a cross between a pendulum and a satellite dish. The teen's malicious grin grew. "Come, Arisato! Show me what you're made of!"

Things weren't looking good. If there was one skill that Minato prided himself on, it was the ability to read people and their intentions. Granted, he'd been fooled before (nobody was perfect), but he liked to think that he was pretty good at it. Right now, he knew that fighting Jin would mean a fight to the death, either his or Jin's.

Now a normal fight to the death was _messy_, if his past experience with violent crime was anything to go by. A fight to the death between Persona users? It would be downright destructive. Destruction on that kind of scale would be impossible to explain, which would lead to a whole host of other issues, chief among them, a city wide panic.

Even if that _wasn't_ an issue, Minato still couldn't fight with Akihiko in his arms, and without an Evoker, Pharos and Anubis couldn't help. He couldn't just drop Akihiko on the ground and fight either; he might get caught in the crossfire. That left him with just one option.

He ran.

He turned and bolted into the fog as fast as he could run, but not before hearing a grunt of surprise from his attacker. The surprise didn't last long however. A heat wave from a fireball washed over him, then impacted a wall to Minato's left, barely missing him.

"Coward!" Jin yelled, his voice echoing behind Minato as he dashed even further into the fog, Akihiko flopping limply in his arms.

"_**What are you doing?!" **_Pharos said angrily._** "Are you trying to get us killed?"**_

"Why do you think he had the fog cleared up back there? He can't see in this either!" Minato said under his breath. "I figure that we can play cat and mouse in this crap for a while until the Dark Hour is over."

"_**What then? What's to stop him from killing us after the Dark Hour's over?"**_

"Did you notice the way he shut me down when I asked him why he wanted to kill me? How he only told me his first name?" Minato said, keeping his eyes peeled despite not being able to see more than a few feet in front of him. "It's pretty obvious that he values anonymity. More than that, I think that he prides himself on it. I think he won't do anything to jeopardize that, unless he thinks he's already won." That explanation was stretching it, but he was grasping at straws here.

"It was clever, running into the fog like that," Jin yelled from somewhere behind him, "but it won't help you, Arisato!"

"Shit!" Minato spun around, but couldn't see where the voice had come from. It had been close, but he obviously wasn't within visual range. That was both a good and a bad sign. He didn't know where Jin was, but the same was true for him. Still, he couldn't continue in the same direction. Jin could outrun him, and with Akihiko still unconscious, he couldn't fight back without risking both of their lives.

But maybe _he_ wouldn't have to fight…

After a silent moment, a plan entered his head. It was an extreme risk, one that could end _very _poorly, but he didn't have that many options currently. Still, that fact didn't stop his guest from voicing his concerns.

"_**Are you nuts? This plan is insane!"**_

"_I know, but it's the best shot we've got. Besides, I don't see you coming up with a better plan."_

"_**Right. Well, before you do this, I just wanna say 'I told you so' preemptively, just in case you, you know, die, and I can't tell you later."**_

"_Thanks for the vote of confidence, smartass. Just be ready."_

Minato quickly hoisted Akihiko over his shoulder, giving his arms a break, and allowing him access to his left hand. He took a calming breath, then yelled, "You think so, huh? Try this on for size!" He then brought his hand up to his head and released his Persona. "Jehuty, Hama!"

His Persona appeared in front of him, and raised its hand into the air, releasing a ball of bright light. Minato closed his eyes and turned away, anticipating the flash. For a moment, the night became day, illuminating the hellish night. His gamble was rewarded with a yell of surprise emanating from down the street, and Minato took the opportunity. He bolted down the street, away from where the voice had originated.

Fortunately, this turned out to be the exact _wrong_ thing to do.

"Moros! Now!"

"_**Minato, look out!" **_

Minato summoned Jehuty instinctively, just in time to stop a sudden fire blast from impacting into his side. Still, Minato let out a hiss of pain as he felt a sudden blast of heat crawl over his chest, as vicious as it would have been if he'd been the one who stopped it. His Persona gave a croon of pain as he crashed into the side of a building, then disappeared a moment later.

He quickly shook off the phantom pain from his Persona and ran in the opposite direction from where the attack had come from, just in time to hear a bolt of lightning impact where he'd been standing a moment before. He ran towards where he thought an alleyway was, before leaping backward several steps as he felt the temperature drop suddenly. He watched in horror as the fog in front of him crystallized into a solid wall of ice, blocking his attempted escape. He turned around just in time to see a dark figure standing in the fog, its hand outstretched.

A sudden, violent gust of wind blew Minato off his feet, sending Akihiko sprawling to the ground and slamming Minato against the ice wall behind him. Minato felt his skull bounce off of the ice, his vision becoming blurry. The cold pinprick that signified Pharos' presence began to feel faint, almost as if he'd been affected by the blow just as much as Minato had been.

As his head started to clear and his ears stopped ringing a few moments later, he could hear the sound of applause. Jin was mocking him. The sound steadily began to get closer and closer as a form began to materialize out of the fog, one that could not be mistaken for anyone else. Minato tried to raise his hand to his head, but before he could, Jin suddenly lunged into view, his foot coming down hard on Minato's left hand, trapping it against the pavement. He screamed as he felt his wrist break.

"Wow," Jin said, snorting in amusement as he ground his foot against Minato's wrist, causing him to gasp in pain, "I thought that you were pretty smart. But that flash of light? That was pretty stupid. I mean, not only did you give away your location, but that attack, or whatever it was didn't even affect me."

He shook his head. "If the others are as stupid as you, then Inari and Chidori should have no problems taking care of the rest of your little club." A vicious gleam appeared in Jin's eyes. "You know, this was way too easy. Before you die, I think I'll have some fun with you."

With that, Jin swung his gun around, clocking Minato against the side of his head. The force of the blow sent the rest of his body away from his trapped wrist, sending another round of shooting pain up his arm. Stars danced in his vision, and he felt his already fragile connection to Pharos slip away. Apparently, the connection was something that required both of them concentrating on it, or it didn't work.

_Something to file away for later… if there is a later…_

The next few minutes were an unintelligible mass of pain for Minato as Jin began to beat him mercilessly. With his hand trapped, he couldn't summon Jehuty, and he'd never be able to draw his rapier at this angle.

Still, he felt a burning desire to do… something, anything to stop him. Jin had caused his friend pain, was causing him pain, and probably would cause pain to others, given half a chance. He wanted to act, to punish this person who held such a blatant disregard for life. However, his grandfather's voice sounded in his head before he could act on this impulse.

_Patience, my boy… A trap must be set before it can be sprung..._

After he'd finally had his fun, Jin shrugged and pulled a bullet out of his pocket, sliding it into his gun's open cylinder. He snapped the cylinder closed, then leaned in and placed the Evoker/gun against the side of Minato's head.

"Time to let your little friend out," he whispered into Minato's ear. "He's got work to do." Jin chuckled humorlessly as he stood back up, his foot still on Minato's wrist. "This world's not going to fix itself after all..."

Minato's shoulders bounced up and down as he began to laugh heartily, drawing a confused look from Jin. "What the hell are you laughing for!?" the teen said angrily, leaning down and slamming the butt of his gun against Minato's head again.

The pain did nothing to slow Minato's chuckling. "I can't... believe... how easy that was..." He managed between pained groans and ecstatic laughter.

"How easy what was?" Jin asked, worry creeping into his tone. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, you should really keep a closer eye on your things, Jin." Minato said, a large grin on his face as he brought his other, unsecured hand up to his head.

A silver Evoker was in his right hand.

Jin glanced down at his empty waistband, then back at Minato, his eyes wide with panic.

"You never know when someone unscrupulous might pick your pocket." Minato said triumphantly as he pulled the trigger.

A blue flash blinded both teens momentarily before a metal leg appeared in the corner of Minato's vision. With a small gesture of his head, the leg suddenly snapped forward, catching Jin square in the chest and sending him flying backwards, his body disappearing into the fog. A loud crash echoed from down the street, signaling Jin's impact with one of the opposing buildings.

Anubis floated right next to Minato's head, his arms crossed in his normal arrogant pose. A snarl of disgust emitted from his long snout. **"What a waste of flesh. Ammit would devour his heart in a moment, if given the opportunity…" **

"Ha!" Minato chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet gingerly. "Thanks for the save, Anubis. I don't think he's coming back from that for a while."

"**My pleasure."**

"Hey, tell Pharos 'I told you so' when he wakes up for me, ok?"

The Persona gave a noncommittal nod before vanishing in a shimmer of light. Minato moved to pick up Akihiko again when his foot brushed against something. The revolver/Evoker that Jin had been using lay on the ground next to Minato's foot. He'd apparently dropped it when Anubis had hit him. Being careful of his injured wrist, he picked it up with a slight groan of pain and pocketed it. He could stop to examine it later, once Akihiko was safe.

Moving to Akihiko's prone form, he did a quick check up. The silver haired teen's breathing was still steady, although still watery in tone. His pulse was strong though. He'd probably have to have his lung drained, in addition to a blood transfusion, but he would be alright until he reached the hospital.

As he moved to pick Akihiko back up, Minato blanched as a sudden thought came to him. Jin had mentioned other people, others who could take out the others. Jin had surprised him, and had even come very close to killing him…

He quickly shoved Akihiko's Evoker into his waistband and picked up Akihiko, ignoring the pain in his wrist as he slid his arms underneath the teen's frame. He then flipped him back over into a fireman's carry, and ran down the street towards where he'd lost his teammates. He needed to find them, now!

* * *

"I know that Jin said that I was just supposed to keep you two busy while he dealt with the Detective," The woman said as the two girls picked themselves up, "But I think I've earned myself a little fun time with you two."

Once Yukari had picked herself up, she immediately drew an arrow from her quiver and shot it straight at the woman's head without a word. The arrow was straight and true, but before it could impact with the woman's face, a blur of motion snatched it out of the air.

The arrow had replaced one of the knives in her hand, and was now being spun around in the woman's hand lazily. Her mouth twisted into a grin. "That was your best shot, Yukari? What happened to putting it right in between my eyes?"

Mitsuru frowned as she assessed the situation. The woman in front of them was the source of this fog, by her own admission, so that made her a priority target. Akihiko and Minato were still missing in action, as well as the mystery Persona user that had drawn them here. Finding them was her top priority, and this woman was standing directly in her path. What she'd said earlier only made it easier to justify.

"Takeba, attack conservatively," she whispered to her comrade. "She's obviously boosting her speed with a Persona of some kind, so only attack when you think you can hit. I'll stick close to provide protection, you try to harry her at range. When I give the signal, that's when we move."

"Roger." Yukari whispered back, her teeth gritted angrily.

"Hey!" The woman said, her grin disappearing. "What's the big idea? I'm not important enough to share in your plans now?" She scoffed. "Rude."

"Why are you doing this?" Mitsuru called out, ignoring the question, "What have we done to you to anger you so?"

"Ha! You want a list, Kirijo?" The woman said angrily. "Jin wants you dead because you guys are an obstacle to his plans." She scoffed. "Personally though, I could give a shit about Jin and his 'higher cause'. That's a bonus. I just want to kill every last one of you Kirijo assholes." She pointed her stiletto at Mitsuru. "Hell, I want _you_ dead more than anyone else, even the Detective!"

"What do you mean?" Mitsuru said, her eyes narrowing. "What have I done to you?"

"My father!" The woman all but yelled. "Your family killed my father, and nearly killed me! I'm only returning the favor. An eye for an eye..."

"What?!" Mitsuru said, taken aback. "We would never-"

"Bullshit! I know what I saw, and if it hadn't been for Shu-" She stopped suddenly, narrowing her eyes. "No, I'm not saying another word to you, bitch. You know what you've done, and now, you're gonna pay for it!"

With a blur of her arm, the knife in her left hand disappeared, and a silver revolver appeared in its place. Before either teen could react, the woman had already placed the barrel against her head and pulled the trigger.

"Aglaope! Siren Song!"

A beautiful woman, with skin the color of alabaster appeared behind her. Her features were distinctly monstrous, however, offsetting her beauty with a row of viciously sharp teeth and the remnants of white feathers hanging from her arms. The mouth of the Persona opened, releasing a melodic screech.

Mitsuru and Yukari fell to the ground, clutching their heads. The song was both beautiful and horrifying. The sound seemed to seep straight into their minds, rattling and reverberating throughout. The fog around them enveloped them, blinding them to everything around them, making the sound somehow even more intense. Mitsuru shut her eyes, trying to block out the pain. It seemed like her skull wanted to burst, the pressure was so intense.

_All of a sudden, the noise stopped. What replaced it, however, was much more haunting._

"_Hello, Mitsu-chan."_

_Mitsuru's eyes shot open as she recognized the voice that addressed her. Only one man had been brazen enough to refer to her so casually, and he hadn't been a part of her life for 2 years now. She was trembling as she turned to face her former love._

"_J-Jubei-kun…?"_

* * *

The red-haired woman let out a yell as her Persona drew its weapon and charged at Fuuka. Despite her posturing earlier, Fuuka knew that nothing had changed in this situation.

She _knew_ that she was afraid. She _knew_ that she was still the same timid girl that had walked into this alley. She _knew _that she couldn't fight back on the same level as Junpei and the rest. She _knew_ that this woman would probably kill her, and Junpei as well. She _knew_ all of this.

More than that, however, she _knew_ that she wouldn't let her fear stop her. She knew that she would never stand by and let Junpei, or Minato-senpai, or anyone else be killed in front of her, not when she could do something about it, no matter how scared she might be.

Fear would not paralyze her any longer. Fear had dictated everything that she had done for most of her life. Her parents, her classmates, her teachers… all of them intimidated her. Unlocking her Persona had been a catalyst, an opportunity for her to change, but her friends? They were her strength. They were what changed her, what made it possible for her to be standing here, willing to face certain doom.

Now, at her final moments, even though she couldn't fight in a normal sense, she would still fight for her friends. Despite the fear, despite the danger, despite everything, she would fight.

As the crying Persona got closer and closer, a feeling of burning determination filled Fuuka. She was going to die, but she would die fighting. A determined smile came onto her face, and she let out her own yell of anger and defiance. She would not be intimidated any longer!

Time stopped.

A voice, ancient and masculine filled her mind. "_Well done, Fuuka Yamagishi. Through the strength of heart required to face your fears, the sea of your soul has changed..."_

As if in response to the voice's words, she felt Lucia shimmer and contort around her. Her round friendly body shrunk around Fuuka, her curves twisting and contorting to Fuuka's own before hardening into plates of thick armor. The watery dome that normally surrounded her entire body shrunk, becoming a thin clear visor that encapsulated her face. Streams of information about the slowly approaching Persona scrawled across it. A set of blades shaped like feathers sprouted from her forearms, and Lucia's head contorted to encapsulate Fuuka's head, becoming a winged helm. A set of rocket boosters shaped like wings sprouted from her back.

"_Your resolution to fight for your friends has been reflected within you, and given rise to a new power..." _the voice said, excitement obvious in its tone. "_Rise, young one, and call upon __**Iset**__! Rise, and fight!"_

Time resumed as Fuuka said the name of her new Persona out loud.

"Iset!"

Mnemosyne attempted to bring its gladius down on Fuuka's head, but Fuuka, with a speed she didn't think possible, brought her arms together, intercepting the blade with her own.

"F-Fuuka…" Junpei said, awed at what he was seeing.

With a heave of effort, Fuuka pushed Mnemosyne away from her and swung her arms around, bringing her blades to bear.

"Tempest Slash!"

Fuuka and Iset moved as one, slashing their blades back and forth across the enemy Persona's body, then, with minimal effort, she leapt into the air and kicked the Persona away from her and Junpei, before flipping and landing on her feet gracefully.

Before Mnemosyne could hit the wall, it shimmered out of existence. Fuuka landed, ready for another attack, but was surprised to see her redheaded attacker staring off into space, before giving her opponent a small smile.

"It seems that I am not the only one who has run into unexpected problems. As such, I am needed elsewhere. Farewell." She turned to leave, leaving Fuuka stunned. Fortunately, Junpei had no such problem.

"Wait!" He said angrily as he stumbled to his feet, his breathing shallow. The girl turned back, a questioning look on her face. "That's it? You try to kill us, then just leave? What gives?"

The girl shrugged. "Like I said before, this wasn't personal. Besides, it's clear from the look on your friend's face," she said, nodding at Fuuka, "That she's perfectly willing to fight me to the death before you come to harm. I can respect that. Unfortunately, I am not so willing to throw my life away on someone as unimportant as you." That made Fuuka's teeth clench in anger, but she did nothing. If this woman no longer wished to fight, then neither did she.

The redhead shrugged again. "Anyway, I have someone that I must now pull out of the fire, so you are no longer my priority." She turned to look at Fuuka and gave her a brilliant smile. "Yamagishi, is it? That determination that you've found… Keep ahold of it. It will be important in the coming days. Good luck." With those last words, the woman turned and began walking away, her dress billowing behind her.

The two teens stared in shock at their assailant's retreating form. She'd attacked them with the intention of killing them, then, when the first sign of resistance came, she'd given up? And what was up with that advice she'd given? It was all so strange…

A cough from Junpei broke Fuuka out of her thoughtful fugue, and she turned to him, concerned. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing better," He croaked, "But I better not try and summon my Persona again…" He shook his head. "Anyways, we should probably get to the hospital. We can tell the others about this later." He gave her a grin. "You know, this battle armor Persona makes you look pretty hot. I like it."

That comment made Fuuka was glad that the visor was polarized.

* * *

_His face hadn't changed much in 2 years. He was still handsome to the point of being beautiful, but instead possessing a youthful visage, his face had gained a sense of maturity and wisdom. More than that, he carried himself with a confidence that simply oozed masculinity. _

_She found her heart beating faster as she gazed at him, which was surprising to her. Despite all that he had done to her, she still found him attractive. Why? He'd left her heart-broken and embarrassed when he'd left the way he did. Despite all his sweet words and promises of love, he'd turned out to be childish and weak-minded. He hadn't even bothered to check on her in the 2 years that he'd been absent. She knew all of this, so why in the world would she still find him attractive?_

_His voice, a deep tenor, broke her out of her thoughts. "You know, Mitsu-chan, I am so glad that I'm here right now."_

_Her heart skipped a beat. "R-really?" She asked hesitantly. It was like her mouth was speaking on its own now. Why was she acting like this? _

_He smiled, sending a shiver down her spine. "Of course. I'm ecstatic." He sighed happily. "I mean, look at you! You were beautiful 2 years ago, but now?" He whistled. "I'm actually having a hard time looking at you now."_

"_You don't look so bad yourself," She replied before she could stop herself._

"_Thank you!" He said, laughing slightly. "I'd certainly hope so, after 2 years. So, what's been going on with you? Have you been able to get rid of the Dark Hour yet?"_

_She felt a smile come unbidden onto her face, despite her mind screaming at her that something wasn't right. "No, not yet. We think we're getting close though."_

"_I'm glad." He said, his face relaxing. "Once you do, we'll be able to get back together." _

_That did the trick. She shook her head in confusion, her mind finally able to exert some control. Jubei had made his feelings perfectly clear when she'd asked him to marry her. He wouldn't want to get back together at all. Besides, he shouldn't even know about the Dark Hour. _

_The Dark Hour had been the source of one of the problems that the two of them had had in their relationship. SEES had just been starting back then, and it had only been her, Akihiko, and Shinjiro. They had been trying to clear the city of Shadows at the time, since they hadn't had a dedicated response team since the formation of the Dark Hour, and as a result of that, hadn't had much free time. It had caused tension between the two of them, and she'd hoped that her marriage proposal would help fix that. _

_Obviously, it was never meant to be between the two of them. She could see that now. Besides, Minato had opened her eyes to a world where she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't, and that was what she knew she wanted. Sure, Minato had his faults, but so too did Jubei, and she knew which one of them she'd rather trust with her life._

"_I don't think that is going to happen," She said coldly, "Because of two things. First, Jubei made it painfully obvious that he and I were over on that day. Secondly, I already have someone right now, so I'll have to respectfully decline." _

"_Wha-"_

"_Besides," She said, a smile coming onto her face, "I don't date women. Or people who want to kill me for that matter. So, why don't you drop the facade?"_

_The smile on the imposter in front of her slipped and became a familiar vicious grin. "Guess you caught me. Damn, and I was hoping that I would be able to sucker you into the good part."_

"_And what might that be?"_

* * *

"This!" The woman said as the world around Mitsuru shimmered and disappeared in a burst of fog. A moment later, the world snapped back into focus, just in time for Mitsuru to see a dagger heading straight for her eye. "Die, Kirijo!"

Just before the dagger could hit her however, a loud bark broke the silence of the night, and a blast of fire knocked the brunette away from her, sending her attacker skidding to the ground. Rising shakily to her feet, Mitsuru stared at her savior in disbelief.

A white Shiba-Inu stood next to Yukari's prone form, his hackles raised as he stared at the brunette he'd attacked. A low growl was echoing in his throat as the woman stood back up, beating the flames off of her coat.

"Stupid mutt!" She bit out angrily, "This was my favorite jacket!" With a blur of motion, the woman practically vanished as she sprinted towards the dog, intent on revenge.

"Mabufu!" Mitsuru cried as she whipped out her Evoker and pulled the trigger. A noticeable chill filled the area around them, and the woman's erratic speed slowed considerably. She was still fast enough to surprise the dog, however, and gave a swift kick to the dog's side.

The dog whimpered as it flew back several feet and began tumbling along the sidewalk when it hit the ground. When he finally stopped tumbling, he gave a huff and struggled back to his feet. It gave another bark, but this one was different than the last. A strange warble in his tone preceded a blue flash of light as he summoned his own Persona. A giant, black, three-headed dog stood behind the white Shiba-Inu, growling with the same warbling tone as his summoner.

The woman didn't miss a beat. She quickly drew her own strange revolver/ Evoker (Revoker?) and snapped it up to her temple. "Agalaope! Zionga!"

The Siren appeared and raised her mouth to the sky, screeching loudly. Luckily, the dog and his Persona jumped out of the way right before a bolt of lightning struck. With another bark, a ball of fire began to form in the mouth of the Persona's middle head.

Seeing an opportunity, Mitsuru snapped off another shot with her Evoker. "Bufula!"

A crystal of ice formed in Penthesilea's hand before shooting off towards her target at the same time as the fireball from the dog's Persona. The woman's eyes widened visibly. A second later, the two opposing forces met with devastating results. The fireball flash-boiled the spear of ice, causing an explosion of steam. The steam billowed and swirled, obscuring the vision of their target. Had they done it?

A click to Mitsuru's side answered that question. The woman was standing over Yukari's twitching body, her revolver cocked and pointed straight at Mitsuru's teammate.

"Drop the piece," She commanded, "or your comrade dies. As for you, mutt, make a move, and I pull the trigger."

The dog gave a growl, but made no movement, evidently understanding the woman's intent. "Good boy," The woman said with a fake tenderness, before turning back to Mitsuru. "Now, drop your Evoker, princess, before I blow Takeba's brains out."

If Mitsuru complied, then she'd have no way to defend herself, and they were all dead. If she didn't, then Yukari would die for sure before either her or the mysterious dog could stop her. Mitsuru gritted her teeth. It was an impossible choice, but one that needed to be made.

With a reluctant sigh, Mitsuru dropped her Evoker, drawing a small smile from the woman. "Ha, you guys and your stupid heroics," She said, shaking her head in amusement. "Well, I'll be happy to tell your father that you went out like a hero, right before I kill him." With that, she turned the gun towards Mitsuru.

The heir to the Kirijo Group closed her eyes, and waited for the end to come.

* * *

A shot rang out through the night… But Mitsuru felt no pain.

Her eyes shot open, just in time to see her attacker drop her gun to the ground, blood pouring from her shoulder. She turned to see where the shot had come from, and what she saw made her heart soar.

Minato stood at the edge of the fog, a smoking revolver in his right hand. He had Akihiko's unconscious body over his left shoulder, and a silver Evoker in his waistband.

"Minato!" She cried happily. He was alive!

He did not respond, however. His eyes were fixated on their assailant, a cold rage emanating from him. His gun hand, Mitsuru realized, was shaking heavily.

The woman began to chuckle weakly as she grasped her shoulder, attempting to stem the blood flow. "Long...time… no see… Shu."

"You know that's not my name, Haruya." Minato bit out coldly.

Mitsuru's eyes widened. Haruya? But that was the name of the woman who- She gasped as realization struck her.

Haruya gave a bitter laugh. "Back at ya… Minato…" She shook her head in amusement. "Well, shit, this is kind of awkward, huh? Your ex shows up, wanting to kill you and all..."

"Why the _fuck_ are you here, Haruya?" He said, his head shaking in a combination of anger, anxiety and grief. "Why are you so goddamn intent on ruining my life?"

"You know damn well why!" She yelled, wincing as she did so. "The ransom! It was a trap! You sent those Yakuza thugs after me and my father as revenge for what we did to you!" She turned away, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "My father died that day!"

"I didn't do anything of the sort!" He yelled back. "I don't even have any connections with any-" He stopped suddenly as a thought came to him. His eyes, as well as Mitsuru's, widened as the two of them made the connection. Minato had no connections to Yakuza of any kind… all except for the one he'd only just found out: Mitsuru's father, Takeharu Kirijo.

"Figured it out, did you?" Haruya snarled. "I should have known that you wouldn't remember. Probably just another casualty of your family's war on crime, right?"

Minato shook his head regretfully. "Haruya, you've haunted me for the past two years. What you did to me… It's not something that I can _ever_ forgive. But believe me when I say-"

"Spare me your pity party, Minato," She scoffed, cutting him off, "I don't care what you have to say about it. All I know is that you are going to pay, one way or another."

"What makes you think that's going to be possible?" Mitsuru said coldly. "You think we're just going to let you go?"

Haruya laughed cruelly. "Of course not." She gave Mitsuru a cold grin as she said, "But do you really think you can stop me?"

At that exact moment, the fog around them suddenly crashed together, cutting off their view of their attacker. With a curse, Mitsuru drew her rapier, and rushed towards where Haruya been standing. When she got there however, she was already gone. A moment later, the fog evaporated completely, revealing the street in its entirety. Haruya was nowhere in sight.

* * *

"Dammit!" Mitsuru said angrily. There was now a crazy, disturbed killer out there who had it out for her, Minato, and the Kirijo group. As if their life wasn't complicated enough. She sighed as she bent down to examine Yukari. She was obviously unconscious, but had evidently taken whatever Haruya had done to her pretty hard. She was twitching and mumbling, almost as if she was having a nightmare.

"Is she alright?" Minato said as he walked into view.

"I don't know," She said gravely. She nodded to the man he was carrying on his shoulder. "How about Akihiko?"

Minato gave a worried sigh. "It was close, but as long as we get him to a hospital soon, I think he'll be fine."

"Very well." Mitsuru quickly gathered Yukari into her arms, sliding the girl's bow onto her shoulder. "I'm ready."

A bark drew their attention to the albino Persona-user sitting at their feet. He looked expectantly up at them, a doggy grin on his face. Mitsuru gave him a small smile. "Thank you for your help earlier. I appreciate it."

"Wait," Minato said confusedly, "Koromaru here helped you?"

"You know him?" Minato nodded. "Ah. Well, yes, he did. Apparently, he can summon a Persona."

As if in agreeance, the dog barked, causing Minato to grin down at him. "Well, aren't you just full of surprises…" He looked up at Mitsuru. "You know, I've always wanted a dog…"

She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. "Yes, well, I suppose we can keep him. He is a Persona-user, after all."

Minato gave her a grin that quickly slid off his face. His eyes became serious. "We're going to have to have a chat with your father about this, among other things. Things are much graver than we believed, not to mention Haruya..." His face turned into a grimace. "God, I hoped I'd never see her again."

She nodded before kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I hope that my father has a good explanation for this…"

"Me too…" Minato said as they turned and began their trek to the hospital. "Me too…"

* * *

Jin's eyes opened as he finally regained consciousness. A second later, he wished he hadn't. He'd obviously broken a few ribs when that Persona had kicked him, not to mention when he'd crashed into the brick building. He gasped in pain as he turned over on the sidewalk, attempting to get some air into his lungs.

"_**YOU'VE FAILED ME, INSECT!"**_

Jin winced as the voice made its presence known. "I… tried…" He gasped.

"_**TRIED? THAT IS NOT ENOUGH! THE ANOMALY MUST BE DESTROYED! OTHERWISE, ALL MY PLANS ARE FOR NAUGHT! PARADISE WILL NEVER BE CONCEIVED!"**_

"I'm… sorry…"

"_**NOT YET, YOU AREN'T!" **_The voice cackled into his ear. Darkness swirled around Jin's body as energy began to build. A second later, Jin screamed as his bones began to forcibly knit themselves back together. The pain grew and grew until Jin's fragile hold on the world slipped, and he fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

A few minutes later, Chidori knelt over Jin's unconscious form. She shook her head as she went over the pros and cons of leaving him here. If she left him to die, maybe he actually would, and she'd be free to leave, to live how she wanted without fear of reprisal. If she did, and he didn't die... well, then she probably wouldn't see the next sunrise.

She scowled as she hoisted him onto her shoulder and began the trek towards the base. Surviving in this world was such a hassle sometimes.

.

.

.

_**Wow, this was a hard chapter. Writing fighting scenes isn't my greatest strength... So naturally, I decided to write three of them at the same time. :D **_

_**Man, deeper down the rabbit hole we go… and there's so much more to see, too! Anyways, we'll be taking a break from most of the drama and action in the next few chapters, cause it's mainly going to focus on the characters and the aftermath of what's happened here. We might even get to the freaking tournament, finally. Jesus.**_

_**I hope you guys liked this chapter! There's so much that happens here! Fuuka's evolved Persona, Inari's true identity, Meeting Jubei… So much going on! So many more questions are raised now! What's going to happen to Akihiko? What's up with Yukari? Will I stop asking so many questions?**_

_**Anyways, hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! As always, please send me a PM if you have any questions or concerns that you've noticed, and please, please, please review! I want to know what you guys think of Strega and everything that's going on! If you don't like where I'm going with this, I want to know that too! Constructive criticism is always welcome!**_

_**I'd like to give a big thank you to arcticGlaciologist for helping me stay on point for this chapter. Thanks for the help, man!**_

_**Till next time!**_

_**-Dr. Ninja**_

_**Personae introduced in this chapter: **_

Aglaope: One of the Sirens in Greek Mythology. Sirens were dangerous yet beautiful creatures that lead sailors to their deaths through the use of their enchanting music. Physically, they were described as being a combination of woman and bird.

Mnemosyne: The Greek Personification of Memory. A Titaness, she was also the mother of the 9 Muses. She also provided watch over a pool in the underworld, also in her name, that served as the counterpart to the river Lethe, or forgetfulness.

Iset: The name of a real Egyptian Priestess and Princess who lived sometime during the 20th dynasty in Ancient Egypt. She held the title of Divine Adoratrice of Amun, as well as God's Wife of Amun, both of which signified the position of Chief Priestess of the cult of Amun. She was the first person to ever hold both titles at the same time.


	19. Update Chapter 19 teaser

Hey everyone, SURPRISE! I'm not dead, which is probably a minor miracle in and of itself. Anyhoo, this is a quick update on the story.

_**IT'S NOT DEAD.**_

I'll be honest: I've had a killer case of writer's block when it came to this story (mostly because I lost a nearly completed (meaning it just needed editing) chapter in late November of 2015 and was _really pissed about it. Actually, I still am pissed about it!_). That, combined with college getting really complicated for a couple of years and me losing passion for writing about Persona, meant that I disappeared for a few years. I never wanted to write out one of these saying "oh I got lost on the path of life" or some shit and make some bullshit promises about getting out a chapter, maybe. If I was gonna write one of these, I was gonna do it with a goddamn plan for you guys. For a long while though, I didn't have a plan or even the passion to come up with a plan.

HOWEVER, I just finished P5 yesterday and, _holy mother of god that game was good._ It not only made me fall in love with one of the best, if not _the_ best supporting cast in a Persona game, but reignited my passion for the entire series. So here's my goddamn plan.

First step for kicking starting this puppy is a kinda-sort of-maybe major re-edit of the story. In addition to a grammar and structuring pass, that means that I'm going to be going back and removing or changing some plot threads that I didn't really have a plan with, and changing things about certain characters, namely Strega and Ken.

For Strega, I didn't really plan out how losing Takaya would change the motivations of each individual member, not to mention that there are some inconsistencies in objective and role as a group earlier on in the story. For this story, I want them to be like the bogeymen you see in chapter 18 throughout, a group that strikes from the shadows to kill the enemies of… well, you'll see. For that, I'll be stripping out a bit of the backstory between Jin and Shinji, but not much, and rewriting the initial reintroduction between them. In addition, I'll be adding a bit more to their dialogue in their introduction scene, giving a better hint as to their true goals and aspirations.

As for Ken… Well, I'll be honest: I've never liked Ken much as a main character in P3. To me, it felt like his role was meant to be that of a time bomb in your group, meant to bring shock value through his actions, but never really contributing anything useful until the end. He never felt integral like Akihiko (funny, right?) or even Shinjiro. The thought of writing a character that I don't like as an integral part of the story doesn't really sit right with me, and (again, being honest) killed a lot of my enthusiasm for writing the later part of this story. But, this is an AU story, one in which I've deviated from canon a bit already, so I can (pardon the swearing) do whatever the fuck I want.

So the big one: I'll be removing Ken as a Persona user for _this_ story. He will still have a role in this, but it will be reduced to that of a supporting character. I still plan on having his story and relation to Shinjiro in the story, but it will _definitely_ not be the same. The revenge plot will not happen, mainly because of stuff I have planned with Shinji (wink wink), but the loss of his mother will still be a critical plot point for him and Shinji.

Anyways, after that is the next chapter. I've been working on bits and pieces of this story for the past two years, so I suppose I could give you guys a taste…

* * *

_It was so familiar at first._

_It began, just like it always did, with a terrible, inhuman screech, causing his eyes to shoot open. Orange, flickering light from the nearby car fire illuminated a horrifying scene: the blood-soaked forms of the man and woman in front of him. The sight sent a sadly familiar horror throughout his body, his eyes rooted on the corpses. Over the past ten years, this sight had become as familiar to him as his own face, a brutal reminder of what he had lost. _

_This time though, something was different. _

_He thought he could hear fighting in the distance. A staccato of what sounded like gunshots rang through the night, and slowly, as if in slow motion, his gaze began to turn upward. Each agonizing moment of this new memory burnt a new picture into his mind. Finally, after what felt like forever, his gaze fixed upon the source of the noise._

_Two figures were fighting in the distance, further down the bridge. Their clash was visibly brutal and intense, even from here. He couldn't make out what the figures looked like, however. Despite the mounting feeling of terror building in his gut, he felt his leg begin to move forward…_

"_Min…up…" _

_A quiet voice, authoritative and commanding, yet soft and calm, called out from behind him. It sounded distant, muffled… but it echoed in his mind, as if he had heard the call through water. His leg stopped moving, and his head began to turn towards the voice._

"_M…nato… up!"_

_The voice… It was so familiar to him… but he couldn't place it to a face. He began to turn, but found his foot was stuck to the ground. He turned back, only to recoil in horror. A black, amorphous mass was slowly crawling its way up his leg. He tried to scream, but his voice wouldn't come. He tried to fight, to run… but the tar-like substance stuck fast, holding him still as it crawled ever closer to his face._

"_Minato…ake…up!"_

_The voice was growing clearer, but also more distant. The black substance crawled its way up over his neck… over his mouth… over his eyes. _

_The world became black. _

* * *

"Minato, wake up…"

A hand lightly shook his shoulder, startling him awake. He gasped as his eyes shot open. The sight of the mostly empty surgery waiting room greeted him. Mitsuru was standing in front of him, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Are you alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare…"

He stared at her blearily, a confused fog in his mind. What was that dream? Who were those people fighting in the distance? He felt his grasp on the details of the dream begin to slip as consciousness began to creep into his mind, despite his best efforts. Somehow, his recurring nightmare had become worse. Worse still… He wasn't sure that it was _just_ a dream anymore. It felt so real…

"Minato," Mitsuru said, her tone becoming agitated, "Are you alright?"

Her tone snapped him out of his reverie. "Uh… yeah," he said, rubbing his eyes, "Just a bad dream."

The worry slid off her face as she nodded in understanding. "Somehow, I don't think any of us will be spared one tonight."

"Yeah…" Minato said forlornly as the night's events washed over him again. Things had somehow gone from bad to worse in no time flat. At least they were all still alive. Speaking of which…

"Any news on Akihiko?"

She nodded hesitantly. "The doctors are once again impressed by your Persona's ability to heal even the most grievous wounds. They had to suction his lungs to get the rest of the blood out, but that was the extent of their treatment. As for how he's doing…" She took a shuddering breath. "Well, he's in no real danger, but…"

"But what?" He asked, a feeling of dread settling into his stomach.

Mitsuru's lips visibly tightened before she turned away from him. "Well," she said quickly, "The doctors 'believe' that the human body was never truly meant to recover from such wounds so quickly. After all, when the body goes into shock, it starts shutting down parts of itself, and-"

"Mitsuru!" He barked, pain evident. "Cut to the chase. What's wrong with him?"

She swallowed before turning back to him, eyes full of worry. "…He's in a coma."

* * *

I'm an evil, evil man.

Oh, yeah, speaking of shit that I can cut out, I was thinking of either removing or postponing the whole Fencing Tournament arc that I had planned. It was extremely poor timing (something I should have planned better) to have this big, hardcore battle take place right before a planned fluffy and lighthearted (one might even say filler) arc. So, in order to preserve the tone of the story from Strega's ambush, I plan on dealing with that more in detail. Unfortunately, that means the Tournament can't take place when it does. Personally, I'm more in favor of postponing the tournament to a later date, preferably after the big security crisis is resolved and our heroes can relax a bit, but if you guys don't care to see that, then I'm fine with axing it.

So what are your thoughts? Let me know with a PM or a comment!

Here's hoping I can get another chapter out before 2018! – Dr. Ninja

Edit: I'm going to start a progress list on this page for those of you who care.

6/9/2017- Chapter 1 edit complete, uploaded.

6/10/2017 - Chapter 2 edit complete, uploaded.


	20. Progress List Update

Hey, guys,

This is the progress list for the rewrite, so you guys can re-read each chapter with the changes as they come out. I'll attempt to update every day with progress on each until I'm finished, so check back periodically. Please let me know your thoughts about each chapter with a PM or review! Thanks!

6/9/2017- Chapter 1 edit complete, uploaded.

6/10/2017 - Chapter 2 edit complete, uploaded.

6/11/2017 – Chapter 3 edit complete, uploaded.

6/12/2017 - Chapter 4 edit complete, uploaded.

6/13/2017 - Chapter 5 edit 75% complete.

6/14/2017 - Chapter 5 edit complete, uploaded.

6/15/2017 - Chapter 6 edit complete, uploaded.

6/16/2017 - Chapter 7 edit around 50% complete, adding new section

6/17/2017 - Chapter 7 edit complete, uploaded.

6/18/2017 - (Took a break)

6/19/2017 - Chapter 8 60% complete

6/20/2017 - Chapter 8 complete, uploaded.

6/21/2017 - Chapter 9 20% complete

6/22/2017 - Chapter 9 80% complete

6/23/2017 - Chapter 9 complete, uploaded


End file.
